“We, Robot”: The Challenges Faced by Musk’s Autonomous Vehicles
Summary
On October 10, 2024, tech pioneer Elon Musk revealed his ‘Cybercab’, Tesla’s full self-driving prototype, in an event dubbed “We, Robot.” Musk also unveiled a 20-seater fully autonomous ‘Robovan’ and Tesla’s AI-powered humanoid robot, ‘Optimus.’[1] Despite the thrill surrounding these wares, Tesla faces several regulatory obstacles before these can be commercially available.
The Background
The reveal follows repeated missed promises by the Tesla chief, who first promised fully autonomous rides from LA to New York by the end of 2017 and predicted a million robotaxis on the road by 2018.[2] Meanwhile, competitors such as Google-backed Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox, have launched autonomous fleets in some US cities.[3] In China, tech giant Baidu has launched self-driving vehicles in more than 10 Chinese cities.[4]
“We, Robot”
The tech titan promised that the Cybercab – with no steering wheel or pedals – will be on roads by 2027 and cost less than $30,000 once produced. However, the lack of detail on how Tesla would achieve these lofty goals caused disappointment among some investors.[5]
A crowd of enthusiastic Tesla fans and investors could be seen and heard cheering as the billionaire revealed Tesla’s innovations. The animated atmosphere was enhanced by dancing Optimus robots, which were also seen serving drinks to attendees.[6] However, these robots were not operating entirely autonomously but relied on human intervention.[7] These autonomous, humanoid “buddies” will be available for less than $30,000 at scale.
The legal concerns
Road Safety and Autonomous Vehicle Regulations
The rollout of these fully driverless vehicles requires Tesla to tackle significant regulatory concerns. The US’s road safety watchdog, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is already scrutinising Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) software, which is in its current vehicles, over safety worries.[8] Before deploying a fully autonomous car, Tesla will need to comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and confront differing state regulations on testing and deploying autonomous vehicles.
Furthermore, concerns have been raised over Tesla’s reliance on AI and cameras and whether the technology is adequate to handle rare “edge cases” that occur on roads. [9][10] Competitors, like Waymo and Baidu, use LiDAR (light detection and ranging), radar and high-definition maps, which offer higher safety reliability but at higher costs.[11]
Data Privacy and Transparency
Tesla’s autonomous vehicles require vast amounts of data collected from 6 million Teslas to train its “end-to-end neural network”, which is then used to provide automobile instructions.[12] This usage raises data privacy issues and questions about compliance with regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act 2018 (CCPA). A likely regulatory point of contention will be over how Tesla uses and processes customer data, particularly in its algorithms.
Liability in Autonomous Vehicle Incidents
Moreover, there is the concern of liability in cases of accidents. When an autonomous vehicle causes an accident, who is responsible – Tesla, the manufacturer of the vehicle and self-driving software, or the user? In the case of fully autonomous vehicles, in which passengers do not have the same, or indeed no, control, over the machine, how should liability be allocated?[13] These are questions that both Tesla and regulators will have to grapple with before full self-driving cars become ubiquitous.
Conclusion
Tesla’s “We, Robot” event gives an exciting insight into a world of self-driving automobiles and humanoid machines. However, before the automaker’s ambitions are realised, Tesla will first have to overcome various hurdles relating to road safety, data protection, and liability. The company’s approach to traversing these challenges will decide whether it can truly marshal the autonomous vehicle revolution.
[1] Kana Inagaki, ‘Elon Musk unveils Tesla’s ‘Cybercab’ robotaxis’ Financial Times (London, 11 October 2024).
[2] Stephen Morris and Kana Inagaki, ‘Tesla shares fall after Elon Musk’s glitzy ‘Cybercab’ event disappoints’ Financial Times (New York and London, 11 October 2024).
[3] CNBC, ‘Will Tesla Robotaxis Live Up To 10 Years of Development And Hype?’ <Will Tesla Robotaxis Live Up To 10 Years Of Development And Hype?> accessed 4 October, 2024.
[4] ‘The trouble with Elon Musk’s robotaxi dream’ The Economist (13 October 2024).
[5] Ibid. (n2).
[6] CNET, ‘Watch Tesla’s Optimus Robot Dance at the ‘We, Robot’ Event’ <Bing Videos> accessed 22 October, 2024.
[7] Ibid. (n2).
[8] Lily Jamali, ‘US probing Elon Musk’s Tesla over self-driving systems’ BBC News (San Francisco, California, 19 October 2024).
[9] Ibid. (n3).
[10] Ibid. (n4).
[11] Ibid. (n1).
[12] Ibid. (n4).
[13] Mark MacCarthy, ‘The evolving safety and policy challenges of self-driving cars’ Brookings (31 July 2024).
