US Government Regulators Probing Elon Musk's Tesla Self-Drive Car Claims - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2023) Biden Administration regulators from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are investigating possibly misleading claims Tesla founder and owner Elon Musk, the world's second richest man, may have made about the company's revolutionary new Autopilot driving system, US media reports said on Friday.

The SEC is conducting a comprehensive probe into the Autopilot system, Bloomberg news reported.

According to the report, SEC officials have yet to decide whether they believe Musk may have inappropriately optimistic statements about the prospects for developing the Autopilot system that would have boosted the company's stock value.

If the SEC was to conclude that Musk had made seriously misleading claims with financial consequences, he and/or his company could face potentially significant lawsuits, government fines or other penalties, Bloomberg said.

Tesla is also about to face a jury trial to decide whether it is liable in a case where an Autopilot-directed car caused a fatal accident, killing a human driver, and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched two probes into whether Autopilot is safe and reliable or has serious flaws, Bloomberg said.