Could one of Silicon Valley's own be turning on car-tech maven Tesla Motors? Andrew Ng, chief scientist of Baidu and co-founder of Google's Deep Learning project, has taken the electric vehicle maker to task after a video surfaced showing a Tesla driver plowing into the back of the truck while the car's Autopilot system was engaged. Luckily, the accident appeared to be more of a bump than a full munch.
Andrew Ng Tweeted that the California-based automaker was, "irresponsible to ship driving system that works 1,000 times and lulls false sense of safety, then... BAM!" The video was posted by the European driver on CNET and tweet was reported on Electrek. Tesla continues to argue that the Autopilot feature "does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does not allow the driver to abdicate responsibility," the company said in an e-mail to Autoblog on Wednesday. "Since the release of Autopilot, we've continuously educated customers on the use of the feature, reminding them that they're responsible for remaining alert and present when using Autopilot and must be prepared to take control at all times."
At least two other drivers have recently blamed Autopilot for recent accidents in Utah and California, respectively. The former accident involved a Tesla that rolled into a parked trailer after the driver said that the car's Summon feature was engaged. The latter involved a Tesla driver rear-ending another vehicle on Interstate 5. No one was hurt in either accident.
Tesla chief Elon Musk said this spring that the car's Autopilot system can reduce the probability of an accident by 50 percent. As far as trust in such systems, it appears to be an age-related thing, as millennials are far more likely to have faith in autonomous-driving systems than people over 40 years old, according to a recent JD Power poll.
Andrew Ng Tweeted that the California-based automaker was, "irresponsible to ship driving system that works 1,000 times and lulls false sense of safety, then... BAM!" The video was posted by the European driver on CNET and tweet was reported on Electrek. Tesla continues to argue that the Autopilot feature "does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does not allow the driver to abdicate responsibility," the company said in an e-mail to Autoblog on Wednesday. "Since the release of Autopilot, we've continuously educated customers on the use of the feature, reminding them that they're responsible for remaining alert and present when using Autopilot and must be prepared to take control at all times."
It's irresponsible to ship driving system that works 1,000 times and lulls false sense of safety, then... BAM! https://t.co/cbmc8onoKu
— Andrew Ng (@AndrewYNg) May 27, 2016
At least two other drivers have recently blamed Autopilot for recent accidents in Utah and California, respectively. The former accident involved a Tesla that rolled into a parked trailer after the driver said that the car's Summon feature was engaged. The latter involved a Tesla driver rear-ending another vehicle on Interstate 5. No one was hurt in either accident.
Tesla chief Elon Musk said this spring that the car's Autopilot system can reduce the probability of an accident by 50 percent. As far as trust in such systems, it appears to be an age-related thing, as millennials are far more likely to have faith in autonomous-driving systems than people over 40 years old, according to a recent JD Power poll.
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