Tesla Whistleblower Casts Doubt on Car Safety

upstart writes:

Tesla whistleblower casts doubt on car safety:

A former Tesla employee has told the BBC he believes the technology powering the firm's self-driving vehicles is not safe enough to be used on public roads.

Lucasz Krupski leaked data, including customer complaints about Tesla's braking and self-driving software, to German newspaper Handelsblatt in May.

He said attempts to highlight his concerns internally had been ignored.

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, has championed its self-driving technology.

"Tesla has by far the best real-world AI," Mr Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

But, in his first UK interview, Mr Krupski told the BBC's technology editor, Zoe Kleinman, he was concerned about how AI was being used - to power Tesla's autopilot service.

Its autopilot feature, for example, includes assisted steering and parking - but, despite its name, it does still require someone in the driver's seat with their hands on the wheel.

"I don't think the hardware is ready and the software is ready," he said.

"It affects all of us because we are essentially experiments in public roads. So even if you don't have a Tesla, your children still walk in the footpath."

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