FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Tesla gigafactory in Austin, Texas, U.S., February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/File Photo
(Reuters) - Elon Musk told investors in late January that Tesla would roll out “autonomous ride-hailing for money” by June in Austin, Texas — a state where the company faces almost no regulation, raising questions about how much safety and legal risk Tesla is willing to take on as it deploys unproven driverless technology on public streets.
Tesla has long blamed its customers for accidents involving the driver-assistance systems it calls Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), noting that it warns Tesla owners to stay ready to take over driving. Now Musk is vowing to deploy truly driverless taxis, a move legal experts say would place crash liability squarely on Tesla.
