The FSD plot might be thickening...

First off, apologies for two tweet-based posts in a row, but things appear to be breaking quickly on this story. 

A few years ago, Tesla shifted the focus of their hype from EV performance to autonomy (Musk is now trying to shift it again, this time to Tesla's proposed line of humanoid robots, but that doesn't seem to be getting much traction, partially because the closet thing they have to a prototype is a dancing woman in a robot suit). 

Tesla is nowhere near the leader in the AV field -- never has been -- and it lacks the engineering talent and the R&D budget to ever catch up. Musk's solution was just to declare victory and release a far from street-ready Full Self-Driving product for beta-testing by fan boys. 

As a stock pump, it worked beautifully, earning Musk billions in bonuses, but examples of amusing or frightening malfunctions started showing up on YouTube and Twitter and regulators finally started taking a closer look at FSD.

Particularly at this...

I still can’t believe Tesla lets you choose if you want to illegally run stop signs. pic.twitter.com/m1d5SqeK1e

— Taylor Ogan (@TaylorOgan) January 23, 2022

Inevitably...

Tesla issues recall after Full Self-Driving software allows cars to run stop signs

Musk took the news with his characteristic quiet dignity and grace. (For those who came in late, Tesla doesn't have a PR department but Whole Mars Catalog unofficially fills the role). 

cue the moron journalists completely misreporting this story

it did not run any stop signs due to this issue. it slowed down to 2 miles per hour rather than 0 miles per hour if there was no one there to maximize comfort

this was by design! not a mistake. ⁦@elonmusk⁩ pic.twitter.com/2BR52Rvm5y

— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) February 1, 2022

He’s actually a lobbyist, not a journalist. There are many who pose as the latter while behaving like the former. No integrity.

Indeed, there were no safety issues. The car simply slowed to ~2 mph & continued forward if clear view with no cars or pedestrians.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2022

Niedermeyer, who wrote the definitive book on Tesla, weighs in.

In more than 15 years covering autos for @AP, @tkrisher has earned universal esteem for his commitment to fair, conscientious reporting. I've read him my entire career and he has only ever earned the title of journalist, no matter who or what he covers. https://t.co/GFwleAKKU7

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 1, 2022

NHTSA literally says the recalled feature made the vehicle move through stop signs without stopping, which validates the @AP "runs stop signs" headline.

Meanwhile, Musk lied about the speed with which this happened: he said it only happens at ~2 mph, not up to 5.6mph per NHTSA.

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 1, 2022

Finally, the fact that this shameful display was prompted by the recall of an automated driving feature THAT TESLA LITERALLY PROGRAMMED TO BREAK THE LAW should not be forgotten.

What you're seeing in this thread is proof of how entitled Elon Musk feels to total legal impunity.

— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) February 1, 2022

Here's the system beta-testers are counting on to determine when it's safe to roll through a stop sign at 5 and a half miles an hour.

Here’s a perfect example of why Tesla FSD Beta will always require a driver to be ready to take over. If I didn’t slam the brakes, we would’ve been taken out by the UPS truck. pic.twitter.com/0pbWGeJC5O

— Taylor Ogan (@TaylorOgan) January 31, 2022

FSD was supposed to be fully perfected years ago. Musk promised to deliver a million robotaxis by 2020. The actual number is fewer and none of them are Teslas.

1) I’m proud to announce that @Cruise is ready to welcome members of the public into our fully driverless vehicles.

Our first few riders certainly had a good time, and we hope you do too. pic.twitter.com/fseSSvqzKJ

— Kyle Vogt (@kvogt) February 1, 2022

Yeah, but Waymo reported 21 disengagements and Cruise reported 27 disengagements in 2020. So isn't this about equal?

(those are disengagements-per-year numbers for their entire fleets so at least some of their cars must have completed the entire year without a single one)

— jesse (@thebigfatj) February 1, 2022