German court bans Tesla advertising for misleading public about autopilot project News
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German court bans Tesla advertising for misleading public about autopilot project

A Munich court banned Tesla from advertising about its autopilot project Wednesday, stating that its previous marketing campaign misled German consumers.

Specifically, the court took issue with Tesla’s use of the word “autopilot” and the claim that Tesla vehicles have “full potential for autonomous driving.” Tesla advertised that its vehicles could navigate on motorways from entry to exit, park automatically, and locate and return to owners after being parked.

The court stated that these characterizations falsely give consumers the impression that the vehicles can be driven completely autonomously and without the human need for intervention. The court also noted that Tesla’s advertising suggests to consumers that autonomous driving is legal, which is not true in Germany.

The ruling comes as many companies are making significant advancements in self-driving technology. Tesla has also recently announced that they plan to “have the basic functionality for level five autonomy complete this year,” and expect it to be implemented into existing cars with no hardware upgrade neccessary. Companies like Uber are also exploring ways to implement autonomous driving into their business models.

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, rejected the reasoning of the decision on Twitter. He contended that “Tesla Autopilot was literally named after the term used in aviation. Also, what about Autobahn!?” Musk also supported other users’ broader definition of autonomous maneuvering that highlights the common usage of the term in conjunction with pilots providing oversight and occasional operation.

Tesla can still file an appeal of the decision and the ban is not scheduled to begin until next month.