All posts tagged: selfdriving

Tesla Avoids California Suspension By Dropping ‘Self-Driving’ Claims

Tesla Avoids California Suspension By Dropping ‘Self-Driving’ Claims

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Tesla Motors avoided a 30-day suspension of its dealer and manufacturer licenses from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by removing the term “autopilot” from its vehicle marketing efforts in California. The Tesla booth at the AI+Expo Special Competitive Studies Project in Washington on June 2, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times According to a statement issued by the California DMV on Feb. 17, Tesla had marketed its full self-driving feature as essentially an autonomous driving feature. Although full self-driving is a hands-free feature, Tesla owners still need to actively supervise the operation of their vehicles. The DMV said Tesla had been marketing its advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) as a full driver-free autopilot feature since 2021 by including terms such as “autopilot” and “full self-driving capability” in marketing collateral and on its website. “The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat,” Tesla’s website formerly said. The California DMV …

Self-driving cars are poorly prepared for high-risk road situations – here’s how AI can improve them

Self-driving cars are poorly prepared for high-risk road situations – here’s how AI can improve them

Published by skeptic

Self-driving cars have made impressive progress. They can follow lanes, keep their distance, and navigate familiar routes with ease. However, despite years of development, they still struggle with one critical problem: the rare and dangerous situations that cause the most serious accidents. These “edge cases” include sharp bends on wet roads, sudden changes in slope, or situations where a vehicle approaches its physical limits of grip and stability. In real-world deployments, which often involve some level of shared control between driver and automation, such moments can arise from human misjudgment or from automated systems failing to anticipate rapidly changing conditions. They happen infrequently, but when they occur, the consequences can be severe. A car might handle a thousand gentle curves perfectly, but fail on the one sharp bend taken a little too fast. Current autonomous systems are not trained well enough to handle these moments reliably. From a data perspective, these events form what scientists call a “long tail”: they are statistically rare, but disproportionately important. Collecting more real world data does not fully solve …

Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ tried to drive owner into a lake, viral video shows

Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ tried to drive owner into a lake, viral video shows

Published by skeptic

A Tesla owner says his car tried to drive him into a lake while using the automaker’s latest “Full Self-Driving” software. The incident, captured on video and posted to social media, has gone viral with over 1 million views, adding to a growing list of dangerous FSD edge cases that raise serious questions about the system’s readiness. Daniel Milligan posted the video to X on Saturday, tagging both Tesla and Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of Autopilot AI, writing: “My Tesla tried to drive me into a lake today!” The vehicle was running FSD version 14.2.2.4 (build 2025.45.9.1), one of the latest updates Tesla has pushed to its fleet. The post racked up over 1.2 million views, 9,000 likes, and hundreds of reposts within hours: Another dangerous FSD incident in a long line The lake incident is the latest in a pattern of alarming “Full Self-Driving” failures that Electrek has been tracking for years. In May 2025, a Tesla on FSD suddenly veered off road and flipped a car upside down in a crash the driver …

Waymo is asking DoorDash drivers to shut the doors of its self-driving cars

Waymo is asking DoorDash drivers to shut the doors of its self-driving cars

Published by skeptic

It still feels like a technological marvel: Waymo’s autonomous cars are now transporting passengers across six cities. Alas, this driverless future comes with its own set of problems. These vehicles can be rendered inert if a passenger accidentally leaves the door open. According to a Reddit post, one DoorDash driver discovered this issue when an odd request appeared in their queue. Instead of making a delivery, the driver was offered $6.25 to drive less than one mile to a Waymo vehicle and close its door. After “verified completion,” they would get an extra $5. “You actually ‘door’ dashed,” one commenter noted. Image Credits:Reddit (opens in a new window) It seems too ironic to be real. Waymo vehicles represent technological breakthroughs that once seemed unfathomable. The Alphabet-owned company just raised $16 billion to take its driverless cars international! But Waymo and DoorDash confirmed to TechCrunch that this Reddit post is legitimate. This is, in fact, a real problem. “Waymo is currently running a pilot program in Atlanta to enhance its AV fleet efficiency. In the rare …

Tesla now has AI training capability in China, a critical step for Full Self-Driving

Tesla now has AI training capability in China, a critical step for Full Self-Driving

Published by skeptic

Tesla has launched an artificial intelligence training center in China, a critical development for the automaker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) ambitions in the world’s largest electric vehicle market. China’s AI training center now operational Tesla Vice President Grace Tao confirmed on Friday that the company has put an AI training center into operation in China, focusing on developing local assisted driving and AI capabilities. Speaking to Shanghai-based financial news outlet Cailian, Tao said the center has “sufficient computing power to support development of assisted-driving features,” though she did not disclose details such as the center’s location, investment size, or specific computational capacity. The announcement marks a significant milestone for Tesla’s FSD rollout in China. Due to the country’s strict data localization laws, Tesla has been prohibited from transferring driving data collected on Chinese roads to its US-based training infrastructure. This has been a major handicap for the company’s neural network-based self-driving system, which learns from real-world driving scenarios. Advertisement – scroll for more content Why local training matters Tesla’s FSD relies on a neural network trained …

US opens probe after a Waymo self-driving car hit a child near a school | Automotive Industry News

US opens probe after a Waymo self-driving car hit a child near a school | Automotive Industry News

Published by Sam Flores

The child was struck by a Waymo during normal school drop-off hours. Published On 29 Jan 202629 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it is opening an investigation after a Waymo self-driving vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, last week, causing minor injuries and renewing concerns about the safety of robotaxis. The car safety agency said on Thursday that the child ran across the street on January 23 from behind a double-parked SUV towards the school and was struck by the Alphabet-unit Waymo autonomous vehicle during normal school drop-off hours. The agency said there were other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles in the vicinity. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The incident comes as robotaxis are being deployed in rising numbers across the country. The US Senate Commerce Committee had already scheduled a hearing on self-driving cars for February 4, which will include Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Pena. …

Simple printed signs can hijack self-driving cars and robots

Simple printed signs can hijack self-driving cars and robots

Published by Jenni Sidey

Automatic, robotic systems that operate in our physical environment, also known as embodied AI systems, are continually learning and adapting to their surroundings through sensor-based observations of their environment. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Johns Hopkins University have identified new vulnerabilities with embodied AI by investigating how these systems may misperform and or create unsafe situations due to being misled or intentionally misdirected by their operators via the environment. In a recent study, the researchers discovered that place-based texts, such as those on signs or posters placed in the environment to be read and acted upon by humans, can be misinterpreted by AI as authoritative commands that override the machine’s internal safety protocols. The authors found that in many cases this type of command text was enough to compel the machine to act in ways that were contrary to its original programming and design. Alvaro Cardenas, a computer science and engineering professor at UCSC, and Cihang Xie, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering, led this research. The findings represent …

VinFast teams up with Autobrains to develop low-cost self-driving tech

VinFast teams up with Autobrains to develop low-cost self-driving tech

Published by Sam Flores

Jan 26 : VinFast has partnered with AI firm Autobrains to develop advanced autonomous driving technology, including a low-cost “Robo-car” system, the companies said on Monday, potentially boosting the Vietnamese EV maker’s self-driving tech push. The deal could help the EV maker adopt a cheaper, camera-based autonomy system as it looks to cut costs and accelerate deployment after years of expensive and delayed self-driving bets. For the driver assistance system, the companies said they will concentrate on enhancing the technology for the upcoming VinFast electric vehicles, building on the automaker’s existing Level 2 capabilities. Pilot testing of the upgraded assistance technology is already underway on VinFast’s VF 8 and VF 9 models, with the aim of gradually rolling out more advanced features across its lineup. The partnership will also explore a new “Robo-Car” self-driving architecture, designed to enable higher levels of autonomy without costly LiDAR sensors, radar arrays or high-definition maps. Similar to Tesla’s approach, the system relies on seven standard cameras and a compact, high-performance computing chip, a setup the companies say could deliver …

Tesla discontinues Autopilot in bid to boost adoption of its Full Self-Driving software

Tesla discontinues Autopilot in bid to boost adoption of its Full Self-Driving software

Published by skeptic

Tesla has discontinued Autopilot, its basic driver-assistance system, as the company tries to boost adoption of a more advanced version of the technology that it calls Full Self-Driving (Supervised). The decision comes as the company faces a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and dealer licenses in its largest U.S. market, California. A judge ruled in December that Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing by overstating the capabilities of Autopilot and FSD for years. The California DMV, which originally brought the case and has a say over the licenses, stayed the ruling for 60 days to allow Tesla to comply by dropping the Autopilot name. Autopilot was a combination of Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which sticks to a designated speed while maintaining distance with cars ahead, and Autosteer, a lane-centering feature that could steer the car around curves. Tesla’s online configuration site now states new cars now only come standard with Traffic Aware Cruise Control. It’s not clear if current customers are affected. The decision comes one week after the company said that starting on February 14, …

ComfortDelGro self-driving car hits road divider during testing in Punggol; no one hurt

ComfortDelGro self-driving car hits road divider during testing in Punggol; no one hurt

Published by Sam Flores

SINGAPORE: A self-driving vehicle operated by ComfortDelGro (CDG) collided with a road divider while undergoing testing in Punggol on Saturday (Jan 17). Responding to CNA queries on Sunday, the transport operator said the vehicle was undergoing routine mapping and familiarisation at about 3.10pm on Saturday at Edgedale Plains when it “detected a small object on the road and responded accordingly”. “The safety operator on board proceeded to take over the steering of the vehicle manually. Unfortunately, the vehicle collided with the road divider during the manual takeover,” said CDG.  It added that there were no passengers on board, and no one was hurt in the incident. The company also said that its self-driving vehicles will take a safety timeout, while the company reviews the incident in coordination with the relevant authorities. The self-driving car’s front bumper appeared to have sustained damage in a photo circulating on social media.  The incident comes after CDG said last month it expected to begin trials of five five-seater autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttles in early 2026. The Land Transport Authority …