Tesla has not achieved that goal and on Thursday Musk is
staging another event, called "AI Day," to promote his electric car
company as the place to work for the engineers he needs to make good on his
promises for autonomous vehicles.
Musk has walked back some of his claims for Tesla's
"Full Self-Driving" (FSD) system in recent months, saying Tesla cars
are "not fully-self driving yet."
U.S. safety regulators earlier this week opened an
investigation into Tesla's driver assistant system because of accidents where
Tesla cars crashed into stationary police cars and fire trucks. Two U.S.
senators also called on the Fair Trade Commission to investigate Tesla's claims
of "Full Self-Driving" and "Autopilot."
"Expectations have been significantly reduced from investors
... Tesla has got some harder questions to answer, what's going on with the
safety probe? And how they market FSD?" asked Gene Munster, managing
partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures.
"I think the substance of the event is going to be lost
with investors because it's just a geek fest."
CONFLICTING VIEWS OF AI
In its invitation, Tesla said participants in the event at 5
p.m. Palo Alto, California, time will "get an inside-look at what's next
for AI at Tesla beyond our vehicle fleet." Musk said the event will be
livestreamed.
Goldman Sachs said it expected Tesla to discuss AI
applications for solar/storage software and advanced manufacturing in its
factories.
Musk has expressed complicated and contradictory views of
artificial intelligence. He has touted Tesla's AI as industry leading, but also
said artificial intelligence could destroy humanity and pose bigger risks than
nuclear-armed North Korea.
During 2017 and 2018, Tesla struggled to increase production
of the Model 3 sedan in part because an ambitious factory automation project
hit snags.
"Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a
mistake," Musk tweeted in 2018. "To be precise, my mistake. Humans
are underrated."
Musk is expected to reveal more about Tesla's
"Dojo" computing system on Thursday, which he has said would process
vast amounts of video data it obtain from Tesla vehicles on the road.
Musk said Dojo will have Tesla's own chips and architecture.
"AI Day is really a recruiting day for Tesla. It's not
a marketing event for a vehicle," said Ross Gerber, chief executive of
investment fund Gerber Kawasaki which owns Tesla shares.
Tesla is competing with other technology companies,
especially Google, for engineers skilled in artificial intelligence systems,
Gerber said.
Musk has a history of promoting technology at showy events,
then pushing back the launch dates.
Last September, Musk announced an ambitious plan to produce
its own battery cells which would enable Tesla to offer a $25,000 car in three
years. But Musk subsequently canceled the longest-range Model S Plaid+, which
he had said would use the cells.
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