"For a company that's staking its future on AI and robotics, Tesla sure is having a tough time explaining its technology to government regulators. The company's efforts to launch a robotaxi service in San Francisco, which isn't actually a robotaxi since it features safety drivers in the front seat, is alarming state officials in charge of overseeing autonomous vehicle testing, according to a new report from Reuters."
"Emails between Tesla and state officials illustrate the growing sense that the company is trying to have its cake and eat it too. Despite Elon Musk's public statements that Tesla was getting "regulatory permission" to launch a robotaxi service in the Bay Area, the company had yet to apply for any of the needed permits to do so. Instead, the service that Tesla eventually did launch was in vehicles with safety drivers behind the wheel to invite-only customers."
"Perplexed state transportation officials asked Tesla's policy representatives whether they could help clear up "public confusion" about the launch, according to the emails obtained by Reuters. Tesla's reply was to avoid the question entirely, saying only that the company's policy was not to respond to questions from the press. Which makes a ton of sense when responding to a question from a government official in charge of overseeing the safe rollout of autonomous vehicles."
Tesla launched an invite-only service in San Francisco that used vehicles staffed by safety drivers rather than fully driverless cars. State transportation and motor vehicle officials found that Tesla had not applied for permits required to test or operate fully driverless vehicles. Elon Musk publicly suggested regulatory permission had been obtained while the company had not submitted needed applications. Regulators sought clarification from Tesla about public confusion and misconceptions surrounding the service. Tesla declined to answer substantive questions, citing a policy of not responding to press inquiries, which left officials unsettled about safety oversight.
Read at The Verge
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