WionDrive News Desk 
Tesla is being investigated by US prosecutors for potential securities or wire fraud involving its statements on self-driving capabilities, Reuters reported citing three sources. The inquiry mainly revolves around Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems by Tesla which do some of the driving tasks such as steering, braking and lane changes, but they are not fully self-driven. Despite warnings to drivers for them to be alert, the Justice Department is investigating the statements in which Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk claim that the vehicles can operate autonomously.
This incident is subsequent to other investigations into multiple crashes, some of which turned out to be fatal, involved Tesla vehicles with Autopilot engaged that led to a recall by the automaker. A previous Reuters report mentioned about the criminal investigation in October 2022, and now it has reported the specific criminal liability federal prosecutors are examining.
In this case, investigators are inquiring into whether maybe the company committed wire fraud which encompasses deceitful messages through interstate communications, by misleading consumers about its driver-assist systems. To add, they are investigating if Tesla has done securities fraud by misleading investors.
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However, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also investigating Tesla representations to investors about driver-assistance systems, the agency declined to comment. The investigation will continue while the prosecutors won’t decide sanctions or charges yet. The intricacy of the issue is further aggravated by the comprehensive responses Tesla gave to subpoenas.
In particular, Reuters did not find the exact passages that were deemed to contain statements which might be illegal. Nevertheless, Musk has been voicing Tesla’s driver-assistance technology for quite a while, either through the social media or via public statements.
Tesla’s move towards self-driving technology is occurring at a time when the company is facing hardships, such as declining automobile sales and revenue, causing cost cuts and pushing back of a highly-expected USD 25,000 model.
Autonomy theme in Musk’s arguments is connected with the fact that he repeatedly promised that Tesla cars would be able to drive by themselves, however Tesla lawyers have explained that failing to achieve an ambitious goal is not regarded to be a fraud.
Though Tesla stock declined by approximately 29% this year, shares went up immediately after Musk’s visit to China at the end of April, pushing one step forward towards selling Full Self-Driving technology on that market.
