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Elon Musk has issued an enflamed response to claims that Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology played a role in a recent fatal high-speed crash, suggesting that he might be preparing a lawsuit.
The crash itself occurred on Friday, June 19, in Katy, Texas, with the Harris County Sheriff's Office revealing that Michael Butler drove his Tesla Model 3 into a home where it struck M. Avila, causing her to suffer fatal injuries from the crash.
Butler himself claimed that he had the vehicle's automate driving-assistance system engaged at the time of the crash, with officials indicating that he "failed to drive in a single lane, left the roadway, and struck the residence," as per Business Insider.
This claim has since been refuted by senior officials at Tesla, however, and Elon Musk himself has spoken up in response after a post on X accused Business Insider of 'lying' about the incident.
Responding to Tesla owner '@kylaschwaberow' on X, who claimed that Business Insider's now-amended headline linking Tesla's auto assistance tech to the crash was a 'lie' worthy of a lawsuit, Musk declared:
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"Yes, this makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!"
This is far from the first time that Tesla's self-driving software has been allegedly involved in a crash, with another fatal incident last year becoming the subject of a high-profile court case, but the car manufacturer's leadership appear to be confident that its tech was not at fault in this particular instance.
While Butler has claimed that the crash was caused by FSD – and officials have ruled out intoxication alongside his willing cooperation with the investigation – Tesla's head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, has refuted the driver's position on the matter.
Responding to Musk's aforementioned post, Elluswamy wrote: "Yup. In this case, the drive manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash."
He later added that "this blatant irresponsible reporting does more harm to people than they realize. Using Tesla self-driving is far safer than manual driving, and this was measured over 10B miles.
"Planting such FUD in the minds of general public, who might not know all the facts, might prevent them from using this technology that makes them safer."
Additionally, Tesla has asserted in the past that FSD tech should only be used by 'fully attentive drivers' who are ready to take over control at any moment, but it was seemingly this transition of control from the tech to the driver that is, in the eyes of Elluswamy, at fault for the crash.
A special investigation has been opened by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) into the crash, seeking the "most in-depth and detailed level of crash investigation data" before coming to an official conclusion on the matter.
