Lawyers Don't Want Elon Musk To Be Examined By Judges, Regarding Tesla's Autopilot Feature

It is feared that Elon Musk's statement is just a deep fake. (photo: twitter @elonmusk)

JAKARTA - A California judge on Wednesday ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be interviewed under oath about whether he made certain statements regarding the safety and capability of the autopilot feature of the car manufacturer. This ruling relates to a lawsuit filed by Walter Huang's family against Tesla at Santa Clara Superior Court for a car accident that killed Apple engineers in 2018.

Huang's family argues that the partially automated car driver software from Tesla failed. However, Tesla argues that Huang was playing video games on his phone before the accident and ignoring vehicle alerts.

The plaintiffs' lawyers asked Elon Musk to be questioned regarding a recorded statement promoting Autopilot's capabilities. The ruling that Musk must testify is temporary, and the hearing is scheduled for Thursday 27 April to decide whether Musk will be interviewed. California judges often issue temporary decisions, which are almost always confirmed in the upcoming hearing.

Musk will likely be asked about his 2016 statement quoted by the plaintiff, in which he allegedly said: "Model S and Model X, at this time, can drive autonomously higher security than someone else. Right now."

Tesla opposed the request in court files, arguing that Musk could not recall details of his statement.

In addition, Tesla also said that "like many other public figures, Musk is the subject of many 'deep fake' videos and audio recordings claiming to show him saying and doing things he didn't actually say or do".

Judge Evette Pennypacker ordered Musk's oath-taking for three constrained hours, in which he could be asked if he actually made a statement on the tape, and called Tesla's argument "very worrying."

"Their position is that because Musk is famous and may be more of a deep-fake target, his public statement is immune," wrote Pennypacker, quoted by Reuters. He added that the argument would allow Musk and other well-known figures "to avoid taking responsibility for what they actually said and did."

The plaintiffs also claimed that Musk agreed to details of a promotional video in 2016 stating, "This car drives itself." The video features some feature that wasn't there at the time, the plaintiff said, citing several Tesla engineers.

Musk, Tesla, and Huang's family lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

The lawsuit is scheduled for trial on July 31, adding to increased legal scrutiny and regulations against Tesla's Autopilot system.