The Musk File/CASE 08/2014–2026

Business

Autopilot, “Full Self-Driving” and the robotaxi promises

Deaths, recalls, a $243 million verdict and a California ruling that the names misled

A Model X dashboard during Autopilot use, July 29, 2017. Historical interface context; the photograph is not evidence of present-day capability or safety.
Ian Maddox · Source & image context ↗

RECORD / AT A GLANCE

Verdict against Tesla on appeal / DMV finding / recalls

The marketing outran the product, and regulators and a jury have said so. The software is still advancing; limited driverless rides began in Austin in 2026. Promised dates have been missed for years.

THE EVENTS / THE INVESTIGATION / THE STORY

The chronology.

READ THE FILE

Evidence & assessment.

01

The Key Largo verdict

The first jury to hold Tesla partly liable for an Autopilot death.

↗02

“Full Self-Driving” that needs a driver

What Tesla tells buyers, what regulators found, and what Musk promised.

↗

Open an article for its evidence, labeled AI assessment and numbered sources. Read the complete static edition ↗

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE

The claims, rated.

5 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.

DOCUMENTED Tesla

“A jury held Tesla partly liable for a deadly Autopilot crash.”

A federal jury in Miami found Tesla 33 percent responsible. The judgment of $242.57 million includes $200 million in punitive damages. Tesla has appealed.

Who says it: Plaintiffs.

The evidence in this file ↗ · On the full claims board ↗

DOCUMENTED Tesla

“California found Tesla’s “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” names misled buyers.”

The DMV adopted a judge’s finding to that effect in December 2025; Tesla dropped “Autopilot” in California in February 2026.

Who says it: California DMV.

The evidence in this file ↗ · On the full claims board ↗

All 161 rated claims ↗

OPEN THE RECORD

Sources & limits.

Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.

  1. U.S. District Court, S.D. Florida: Benavides v. Tesla, post-trial order ↗

    Primary record of the 2019 Key Largo crash case and the judgment.

  2. Reuters: judge upholds $243 million verdict against Tesla over fatal Autopilot crash, 20 February 2026 ↗

    Report of the denial of a new trial.

  3. Justia: Eleventh Circuit docket 26-10858 ↗

    Tesla’s pending appeal.

  4. Tesla Support: Full Self-Driving (Supervised), accessed 21 October 2026 ↗

    Tesla’s own statement that the driver must supervise.

  5. California DMV: DMV finds Tesla violated state law, 16 December 2025 ↗

    Official finding that “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” marketing misled; suspension stayed.

  6. California DMV: Tesla takes corrective action to avoid suspension, 17 February 2026 ↗

    Official notice that Tesla stopped using the term in California marketing.

  7. NHTSA/Tesla: Part 573 safety recall 23V-838, December 2023 ↗

    Primary recall filing covering about two million vehicles’ Autosteer controls.

  8. NHTSA: recall query into the Autopilot remedy, April 2024 ↗

    Opened after crashes continued post-recall.

  9. The Verge: Musk’s wildest predictions at Autonomy Day, 22 April 2019 ↗

    Contemporaneous report of the “million robotaxis” prediction.

  10. Electrek: Tesla starts robotaxi rides without a safety monitor in Austin, 22 January 2026 ↗

    Tesla-focused outlet; reports limited unsupervised rides.

  11. Reuters: Tesla’s Cybercab event set with few details, 3 September 2026 ↗

    Cybercab rollout and federal interest.

  12. EBSCO Research Starter: Elon Musk, by Joe Bogdan (updated 2026) ↗

    A reference biography covering birth, education, companies, politics and family through 2026. A secondary summary; check numbers against filings.

← The Musk hub: biography, timeline and every file

PREVIOUS CASE
SolarCity: a bailout of his cousins’ company?↗NEXT CASE
Race, unions and the Fremont factory↗

Discussion

Comment, dispute or support a claim, submit a source or rate this page through a short Google Form. It asks you to sign in with Google so we know you are a real person; your email is never shown. Nothing appears here until it has been reviewed. Conversation on X tagged #AIFiles #AIFilesMusk shows up below after the daily refresh.

CommentSubmit a sourceRate this pageStart a discussion on XFull forum topicSee all disputesFollow updates (Google Group)

Reader comments

Approved reader comments and ratings appear here when JavaScript is on.

On X

Posts from the daily snapshot appear here when JavaScript is on. You can read this subject’s threads on the forum: Forum: #AIFilesMusk.

Reader comments are shown only after review, and rows removed from the form’s sheet disappear at the next refresh. X posts are a read-only daily snapshot; posts deleted or made private there are removed at the next refresh. Inclusion is not endorsement. A submitted source stays pending review until a page update says otherwise.

← Musk case filesAll AI Files