A senior Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) engineer admitted that a 2016 video promoting the automaker’s autonomous driving technology was staged, according to a deposition transcript seen by Reuters.
Ashok Elluswamy, director of Autopilot software at Tesla, acknowledged that the video showcased capabilities like obeying traffic signals that the technology did not possess at the time in sworn testimony. The route was also pre-planned and even still required driver intervention after crashing into a parking lot fence, per the testimony.
The staging of the video was previously reported by The New York Times in 2021, though details as to its staging were previously unreported. The video remains active on the EV manufacturer’s website.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk will head to court on Tuesday over his “funding secured” tweets in late 2019. Shareholders claim they were defrauded by the social media statements and are seeking damages.
