Tesla’s Full-Self Driving Software Is A Mess. Should It Be Legal?

Forbes

Elon Musk keeps hyping the AI-enabled software, and getting more people to buy it is key to his massive new pay package. But in a recent test, it ignored standard street signs and even a flashing school bus stop sign – squashing mannequin child “Timmy.”  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/09/23/teslas-full-self-driving-software-is-a-mess-should-it-be-legal/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Tesla's full self-driving software is a mess.

00:05Should it be legal?

00:07Elon Musk relentlessly promotes Tesla as a major player in autonomous driving, both in

00:13the robo-taxi market and for personally-owned vehicles that are based on its full self-driving

00:18system, known as FSD.

00:21His jaw-dropping $1 trillion pay package includes getting 1 million Tesla robo-taxis on the

00:26road and 10 million active FSD users over the next decade, so their success directly

00:33benefits him financially.

00:36Whether that's achievable remains to be seen, but an assessment by Forbes of the latest version

00:41of FSD found that it remains error-prone.

00:46During a 90-minute test drive in Los Angeles, in residential neighborhoods and freeways,

00:51the 2024 Model Y, with Tesla's latest hardware and software, Hardware 4, FSD version 13.2.9,

00:59ignored some standard traffic signs and posted speed limits.

01:04It didn't slow down at a pedestrian crossing with a flashing sign and people present.

01:08And it made pointless lane changes and accelerated at odd times, such as while exiting a crowded

01:14freeway with a red light at the end of the ramp.

01:17There's also no indication the company has fixed a worrisome glitch identified two years

01:22ago, stopping for a flashing school bus sign indicating that children may be about to cross

01:27the street.

01:29In fact, there are so many easy-to-find problems with the feature.

01:32Recently redubbed, quote, full self-driving, parentheses supervised, it raises a question.

01:38Why is the $8,000 feature, which also requires a $99 a month subscription, even legal in its current

01:45form?

01:47Turns out there's a simple answer.

01:49Missy Cummings, a George Mason University professor and AI expert who has advised the

01:54National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on autonomous vehicles, said, quote,

01:59Driving assist systems are unregulated, so there are no concerns about legality.

02:04NHTSA has the authority to step in.

02:07But up to now, they've only stepped in for poor driver monitoring.

02:12Nine years after the first Tesla owner in the U.S. was killed in an accident while using

02:17the company's Autopilot driver assist software, regulators have yet to set clear rules for

02:23so-called Level 2 driver assist technology, the category FSD falls into, beyond requiring

02:29in-cabin monitoring to ensure human drivers pay attention to road conditions.

02:35This loophole creates an opportunity for Musk to promote FSD, first rolled out in 2020,

02:41as a feature that provides virtually autonomous driving with, quote, minimal human intervention,

02:47according to the in-car display.

02:49And as a metric for his future compensation package, its broader adoption is massively lucrative

02:55for him.

02:56NHTSA, which opened an investigation last month into Tesla's failure to report FSD in autopilot

03:03accidents in a timely manner, said it, quote, does not pre-approve new technologies or vehicle

03:09systems.

03:11Instead, it's up to carmakers to certify that vehicles and technologies meet federal safety

03:16standards.

03:17A spokesperson said that if an investigation finds a system to be unsafe, quote, NHTSA will

03:23take any necessary actions to protect road safety.

03:28Musk's comments about FSD's capabilities aren't nuanced.

03:32He said, quote, Tesla's self-driving massively improves your quality of life and safety for

03:37the thousands of life hours you're in a car.

03:41The company also promotes the system with videos showing seemingly flawless performance

03:45in road trips.

03:47Yet Tesla is more circumspect in what it tells NHTSA.

03:52The agency said, quote, Tesla describes its systems as level two partial automation, including

03:57FSD supervised, requiring a fully attentive driver who is engaged in the driving task at

04:03all times.

04:05Scrutiny of Tesla's technology is increasing after legal setbacks, including the launch

04:10of a federal class action lawsuit by Tesla owners over Musk's exaggerated FSD and autopilot

04:16claims and efforts by California's DMV to bar the company from using those names for the

04:21features in that state.

04:24The jury in a federal trial in Florida also determined last month that Tesla was partially

04:29responsible for a fatal 2019 crash that occurred while its autopilot feature was engaged, ordering

04:35it to pay $243 million in damages.

04:39The company is appealing the verdict.

04:41It settled two other lawsuits last week over crashes in California linked to autopilot, which

04:46has more limited driving assist features than FSD.

04:51For full coverage, check out Alan Owensman's piece on Forbes.com.

04:57This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:59Thanks for tuning in.

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