Tesla is under investigation in the US for alleged fraud related to claims about its driving assistance systems

The US Department of Justice has launched an investigation against the electric car manufacturer Tesla for possible financial fraud, that is, the investigation is ongoing into the statements of Tesla and its head Elon Musk about Tesla’s driving assistance systems. This is reported by the agency Reutersreferring to approximate sources.

The first news that such an investigation was taking place appeared in the fall of 2022. Federal prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco are investigating whether Tesla and Musk’s statements about these systems misled investors, consumers and various regulators by falsely promising various autonomous driving capabilities.

It is understandable that currently the investigators are leaning towards specific charges, namely securities and wire fraud. The investigators are particularly interested in what Elon Musk said about these systems.

Musk has been promising for years that self-driving Tesla cars are just around the corner, but no results have been forthcoming. Musk himself has not hidden that his promises and statements are often overly optimistic. We have written a lot about the marketing problems of Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Drive systems – their names can create false associations for people that the car will be able to drive on its own, but in reality the person behind the wheel should still pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the steering wheel – so, no Autopilot or Full Self-Drive really comes together.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also showing interest in this case, which has also begun to investigate whether Tesla lied in its statements about the capabilities of the driving systems, thereby misleading investors.

Back to Tesla’s two driver assistance systems, the automaker has recently been in trouble again with US regulators as Tesla has issues with various safety and monitoring systems that monitor drivers and whether the driver assistance systems are being used correctly. Various investigations into accidents possibly caused by or misuse of the Autopilot and Full Self-Drive systems are also ongoing. In one such lawsuit, Tesla agreed to a settlement with the injured party, avoiding a jury decision.