“The route taken by the car had been charted ahead of time by software that created a three-dimensional digital map, a feature unavailable to drivers using the commercial version of Autopilot, according to two former members of the Autopilot team,” the report said. “At one point during the filming of the video, the car hit a roadside barrier on Tesla property while using Autopilot and had to be repaired, three people who worked on the video said.”
The video, set to the Rolling Stones song “Paint It Black,” shows a person sitting in the driver’s seat, but a disclaimer says he’s “only there for legal reasons” and that “the car is driving itself.” It cuts to alternate camera angles numerous times, which would allow for editing out any unflattering incidents.
The video does include a scene in which the car enters the parking lot of Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., and turns into a lane marked with arrows pointing the opposite direction before stopping for the driver to get out at the front door.
The Times concluded its story by quoting Amnon Shashua, CEO of supplier Mobileye, which used to work with Tesla. Mobileye parted ways with Tesla in mid-2016, about four months before the “Paint It Black” video went online, and later accused Autopilot developers of “pushing the envelope in terms of safety.”
“One should not be hung up on what Tesla says,” Shashua told the newspaper. “Truth is not necessarily their end goal. The end goal is to build a business.”