--- title: "Elon Musk Forcing Tesla to Train Self-Driving Cars On His Own Driving" description: "As Business Insider reports, human annotators at Tesla are tasked to specifically focus on the driving of Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself." date: "2024-07-09" modified: "2024-07-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-tesla-train-self-driving-own-driving" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "full self-driving" - "tesla" --- # Elon Musk Forcing Tesla to Train Self-Driving Cars On His Own Driving ![As Business Insider reports, human annotators at Tesla are tasked to specifically focus on the driving of Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself.]() *\Image: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images\* Tesla's self-driving efforts depend on human "annotators," tasked with identifying objects like construction cones or pedestrians crossing a road in recorded footage from the company's vehicles. And as [*Business Insider* reports](), many of the company's annotators are tasked with specifically focusing on the driving of Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself, alongside several other "VIP" drivers. In other words, a big proportion of the company's resources are being allocated to ensure that Musk and his cronies are experiencing a smooth ride. It's a hilarious and arguably unsurprising move, given Musk's [well-documented self-serving tendencies]() and love of [micromanaging](). Human annotators are tasked with reviewing camera footage recorded by Teslas on the road to improve the company's "self-driving" software. The company's global database is updated regularly to ensure that vehicles are following the rules of the road and are adapting to changing conditions. But Musk's personal driving habits are reportedly being sent to the front of the line, with eight workers telling *BI* that they remember annotating data associated with him. Other workers recalled working on labeling routes coming in and out of the carmaker's factories in Texas and California. Other factories of competing companies didn't get nearly as much focus, according to *BI*'s sources. Some former employees also told the publication that they were told to put extra care and time into annotating clips recorded by Musk's car. That kind of prioritizing could lead to some strange outcomes, such as Musk's own perspective being greatly skewed. "It seems pretty clear that Elon's experience would be better than anyone else's," one former employee told *BI*. "He was seeing the software at its best." One annotator was reportedly walked out of Tesla's office in Buffalo, New York, after failing to properly label a highway exit sign in a clip that they believed came from Musk's car. It's not just Musk — other VIP users including YouTube celebrities and other influencers, got the royal treatment as well. "We would annotate every area that car regularly drove in," one former Tesla worker told *BI* after being instructed to work on "Tesla influencer" data. "We'd home in on where they lived and label everything we could along that route." Meanwhile, Tesla has been embroiled in controversy related to its driver assistance software. In particular, its expensive and misleadingly-named "Full Self-Driving" and "Autopilot" add-ons are being investigated by several government bodies following [hundreds of collisions and dozens of deaths](). Despite the company's deceptive marketing, Tesla drivers still need to be fully alert and ready to take over at any time. Regulators, however, have found that many owners are still being [lulled into a false sense of security]() that can lead to them misjudging the software's true capabilities. Could Musk really be getting a far-better-than-average sense of his car company's driver assistance software? Given the latest reports, there's a good chance he is. It's a trend that's been going on for quite some time now. According to Walter Isaacson's 2023 biography of Musk, the mercurial CEO would frequently give engineers an earful about badly annotated roads. In 2015, he [reportedly stormed into Tesla's office]() complaining that his car had behaved dangerously while on self-driving mode. Employees realized there was a faded line on the nearby Interstate 405 — and insteaed of fixing the software, repainted it. "After that, Musk's Autopilot handled the curve well," Isaacson wrote. **More on self-driving:** *[Mercedes Exec Blasts Tesla for Reckless “Full Self-Driving” Rollout]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()