The State of California's Attorney General Office is reportedly joining the party of regulators looking into Tesla, probing the company's Autopilot safety and marketing, according to CNBC on Friday.
The financial news network reported that the office is "seeking information from customers and previous employees about Autopilot safety issues and false advertising complaints".
The news network cited several people who had been contacted by the regulator as their source, though the FTC and the CA Attorney General did not comment.
Recall, back in October 2022 we noted that Tesla was under criminal investigator for claims that its cars can drive themselves. The DOJ reportedly launched an investigation into the company in 2021 after more than a dozen crashes took place involving Autopilot.
According to Reuters, the DOJ investigation "potentially represents a more serious level of scrutiny because of the possibility of criminal charges against the company or individual executives, the people familiar with the inquiry said."
Washington and San Francisco DOJ prosecutors are looking at whether or not the company misled consumers with its claims of Autopilot and Full Self-Driving's capabilities. All options are still on the table with regard to the investigation, Reuters noted: "Officials conducting their inquiry could ultimately pursue criminal charges, seek civil sanctions or close the probe without taking any action, they said."
And the DOJ investigation in Autopilot appears to be yielding to additional DOJ investigations into the company, the report says:
The Justice Department’s Autopilot probe is far from recommending any action partly because it is competing with two other DOJ investigations involving Tesla, one of the sources said. Investigators still have much work to do and no decision on charges is imminent, this source said.
Also in late 2022 we wrote that there had been yet another grim development involving Tesla's Autopilot and motorcycles - a disturbing trend we first started pointing out months ago when we talked about two accidents that occurred this summer.
In Summer 2022 we noted that the NHTSA was investigating Tesla Autopilot crashes that left two motorcyclists dead.
Any blow to the company's Autopilot feature, including a potential recall, could wind up having profound financial consequences for the automaker.
So far, however, regulators have sat idly by on their hands - and so the game of "chicken" with Elon Musk continues...
