Tesla wants a federal investigation into its self-driving assistance system to keep secret. In a memo filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last week, the regulator noted that Tesla has requested "the processing of confidential business information (CBI) submitted throughout the information request." If Tesla's request is approved, the company's response to NHTSA's request for much of the information about the Autopilot investigation and possible flaws will be virtually invisible.
NHTSA wondered why Tesla didn't recall Autopilot after "seeing" problems with parked emergency vehicles. NHTSA also asked Tesla for more information about expanding its public beta tests of its unfinished fully autonomous driving software, its recently launched "Safety Score" evaluation process for using the program, and the confidentiality agreements Tesla has been applying to participants until this week. The confidentiality request was made during a thorough investigation of Tesla and during its attempt to release incomplete software updates to customers. In at least 12 accidents, Autopilot-enabled Tesla collided with a parked emergency vehicle.
Tesla released a software update to its cars in September to address the driver assistance system. But NHTSA wants to know why Tesla didn't go through a formal recall process and is preparing for a long-running battle over whether OTA updates that could fundamentally change the way cars are driven are subject to the government's strict auto safety regulations.
Tesla began rolling out new software updates on Oct. 23, but undoed CEO Elon Musk on Oct. 24 when he tweeted that "we've seen some issues." Some Tesla owners have reported issues such as ghost forward strike warnings, lack of automatic steering options, traffic-aware cruise control issues, and occasional self-driving panics.
Tesla's confidential message was released in response to dozens of fan comments that demeaned NHTSA's newly hired hostile robotics expert, Missy Cummings. Cummings reportedly deleted his Twitter account after receiving death threats from some Tesla fans.