A former Tesla employee, Lukasz Krupski, raised concerns about the safety of Tesla’s self-driving technology, leaking data, including customer complaints, to German newspaper Handelsblatt in May.
Despite attempts to address his concerns within the company being disregarded, Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
In his first UK interview, Krupski emphasized worries about the AI powering Tesla’s autopilot service, expressing doubts about the readiness of both hardware and software.
He highlighted the impact on the public, stating, “It affects all of us because we are essentially experiments in public roads. So even if you don’t have a Tesla, your children still walk in the footpath.”
Krupski found evidence in company data suggesting that safety requirements for vehicles with autonomous or assistive-driving technology were not met.
He noted instances of “phantom braking” reported by customers and Tesla employees, a concern echoed in the data he obtained.
Tesla’s data indicated lower crash rates for customers using Autopilot compared to those who didn’t, but Krupski felt compelled to share his findings with data protection authorities and the US Department of Justice, which had been investigating Tesla’s assisted driving claims since January.
The leaked “Tesla Files” prompted inquiries from various agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Dutch data protection authority, which confirmed it was investigating the data breach.
Source-BBC
