CALIFORNIA: A California judge on Wednesday ordered Tesla automaker’s CEO Elon Musk to be interviewed under oath about whether he made certain statements regarding the capabilities and safety of autopilot features of his company manufactured cars.
The decision was made in a case brought by the family of Walter Huang against Tesla in Santa Clara Superior Court over a car crash that claimed the life of the Apple engineer in 2018, Reuters said.
According to Tesla’s attorneys, Musk is frequently the subject of compelling “deep fake” films and cannot recall the specifics of the statements the plaintiffs wanted him to answer.
Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving software failed, according to Huang’s relatives. According to the automaker, Huang disregarded vehicle warnings and played a video game on his phone before the collision.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs wanted to cross-examine Musk over audio recordings that tout Autopilot’s capabilities. The decision that Musk must testify was tentative, and a hearing over whether to depose him was scheduled for Thursday. After such a hearing, California judges frequently issue tentative orders, which are virtually invariably finalized with little to no significant revisions.
Musk will likely be questioned over a 2016 quote allegedly made by him, as quoted by the plaintiffs: “A Model S and Model X, at this time, can drive autonomously with higher safety than a person. Right now. Tesla fought the request in court documents, claiming Musk couldn’t remember the specifics of the statement. Additionally, Musk “like many public figures, is the subject of many ‘deepfake’ videos and audio recordings that purport to show him saying and doing things he never actually said or did,” according to Tesla.
Judge Evette Pennypacker tentatively ordered a limited, three-hour deposition where Musk can be questioned whether he made the statements on the recordings and called Tesla’s arguments “deeply troubling.”
Pennypacker wrote, “Their position is that because Musk is popular and might be more of a target for deep fakes. His public statements are immune and such arguments would allow Musk and other famous people “to avoid taking ownership of what they did say or do.”
Additionally, the plaintiffs assert that Musk finalized the details on a 2016 promotional video that declares, “The car is driving itself.” Citing many Tesla engineers, the plaintiffs claimed that the video showed some features that were unavailable at the time.
Musk, Tesla and an attorney for Huang’s family did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit is scheduled for trial on July 31, adding to growing legal and regulatory scrutiny over Tesla’s Autopilot system.
On Friday, a California state court jury found Tesla’s Autopilot feature did not fail in what appeared to be the first trial related to a crash involving the partially automated driving software.
