--- title: "Drivers Sue Tesla Because Full Self-Driving Isn’t Actually Full Self-Driving" description: "Tesla is being sued for misleading the public by calling its controversial driver assistance features \"Autopilot\" and \"Full Self-Driving,\" Reuters reports." date: "2022-09-16" modified: "2022-09-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/drivers-sue-tesla-full-self-driving" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "full self-driving" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Drivers Sue Tesla Because Full Self-Driving Isn’t Actually Full Self-Driving ![Tesla is being sued for misleading the public by calling its controversial driver assistance features "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving," Reuters reports.]() *\Image: Tesla/Futurism\* ## Null Self-Driving Tesla is being sued for misleading the public by calling its controversial driver assistance features "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving," [*Reuters* reports](). According to the complaint filed in a San Francisco federal court this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been deceiving its customers by promising that fully-fledged, autonomous driving is "just around the corner." And that's not exactly unfair, considering Musk has been [promising self-driving cars "next year"]() every year since 2014. Eventually? Sure. Imminently? So far, no dice. ## Auto Redenbacher Despite that branding, the driver assistance features still "require active driver supervision" from a "fully attentive" driver, because they are "not fully autonomous today," as Tesla admits on [its own website](). Plaintiff Briggs Matsko argued that Tesla and Musk made these promises to "generate excitement" and boost sales as well as its stock price, as *Reuters* reports. But despite its best efforts, "Tesla has yet to produce anything even remotely approaching a fully self-driving car," Matsko said. Matsko also claims Tesla drivers who have [been testing unfinished betas]() of the company's Full Self-Driving software "effectively act as untrained test engineers," who have found "myriad problems." ## Growing Pains The lawsuit echoes [complaints filed by California's Department of Motor Vehicles]() earlier this year. The department alleges that the electric automaker put out "untrue or misleading" advertisements on its website in relation to its Full Self-Driving and Autopilot tech. Dozens of collisions involving Tesla and its self-driving tech are also [being investigated]() by The National Highway Safety Transportation Administration. All told, stormclouds are gathering over the company's self driving efforts — and it just may take delivering on its outsizes promises to dispel them. **READ MORE:** [Tesla is sued by drivers over alleged false Autopilot, Full Self-Driving claims]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on FSD:** *[Elon Musk Snaps at Guy Who Pointed Out Bug in Tesla's Beta FSD]()* ## 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]()