Tensor, a San Jose-based startup, unveiled a personally owned self-driving vehicle branded as "Earth's first personal Robocar." The vehicle ships with an SAE Level 4 driving system that can operate without human supervision; drivers can act purely as passengers. Autonomous mode activates only inside approved, geofenced operational design domains (ODDs), at which point steering and pedals fold away. Tensor accepts responsibility for the vehicle's actions while Level 4 is engaged, potentially assuming liability for collisions. Liability laws for fully autonomous vehicles remain unsettled in the US, with recent Autopilot cases showing some driver responsibility. Teleoperators or remote support can provide intervention.
The car's SAE Level 4 driving system - a classification that indicates it can drive without human supervision - can only be activated in "approved" zones or within the "operational design domains" (ODD), Fozzati said - basically geofences, akin to those that corral robotaxis like Alphabet's Waymo. "So when it's in our ODD, you're free to basically press the Level 4 mode and then the steering wheel folds away, the pedal folds away, and that's it," he said.
Fozzati said once the autonomous driving feature is activated, Tensor takes full responsibility for what happens on the road. So if the car gets into a collision, Tensor could be on the hook. Liability laws regarding fully autonomous vehicles are largely unsettled in the US. Recent cases involving Tesla's Autopilot, an advanced driver-assistance system that requires human supervision, show that drivers assume at least some responsibility for what happens to the car.
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