Tesla bear criticized Wall Street

• Tesla’s Elon Musk claimed the company would achieve full self-driving, ie Level 4 or 5 autonomy, before the year-end.
• The company now charges $12,000 for the FSD package that is currently in advanced beta testing.

Tesla, Inc.’s TSLA controversial self-driving software faced renewed scrutiny when a social media user posted a video of a Tesla vehicle operating in Autopilot mode, failing to respond as expected.

What Happened: On the X platform, previously known as Twitter, a user shared a video of a Tesla being driven in Autopilot mode, which did not steer to avoid an oncoming vehicle. The driver had to take manual control of the steering to prevent a potential accident.

Captioning the clip, the user, going by the handle @DobackHuffInc, said, “Absolutely garbage software. Get this trash off the roads.” He also tagged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Trade Commission, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as well as Transport Canada.

Tesla short-seller Jim Chanos reposted the post and said, “How is this still happening after almost eight years of development.”

Delving into the probable reasons, GLJ Research’s Gordon Johnson said Tesla does not allegedly collect videos, which actually allow the cars to learn. The electric vehicle giant does not use hi-resolution radar/Lidar, which is “absolutely necessary” for self-driving cars, he said.

Also, Tesla does “not care,” he added.

“The promise of ‘FSD’ in the permanent future allows dishonest Wall Street analysts to ‘value’ that ‘future promise’ at infinity,” Johnson said.

B/c $TSLA does not (allegedly): (a) collect the video which actually allows the cars learn, (b) have hi-res radar/Lidar, which are absolutely necessary for self-driving cars, & (c) care. The promise of “FSD” in the permanent future allows dishonest Wall Street analysts to “value”…

— Gordon Johnson (@GordonJohnson19) November 4, 2023

Why It’s Important: Tesla vehicles now use Autopilot, an advanced driver-assistance system that facilitates partial vehicle automation. The company is in the advanced stages of beta-testing the full self-driving software that would allow a higher level of autonomy.

CEO Elon Musk reportedly said at a conference in China earlier this year that Tesla is “very close to achieving full self-driving without human supervision” and will “achieve full self-driving, maybe what you would call (level) four or five, I think later this year.”

Tesla charges $12,000 for FSD but skeptics are unconvinced of the software’s ability to drive without human intervention. They have called regulators to ban its usage without a more convincing demonstration of its safety.