The California attorney general’s office is investigating Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), seeking information from customers and former employees about Autopilot safety issues and false advertising complaints.
Greg Wester, the owner of a 2018 Tesla Model 3, filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission in August 2022 regarding “phantom braking” — sudden, automatic braking by a car for no apparent reason — that he experienced when using the company’s driver assistance systems, or Autopilot, on the highway.
Wester also told the FTC that he felt misled by Tesla after paying thousands of dollars for the company’s premium driver assistance option, marketed as Full Self Driving, or FSD, in the U.S.
By the second quarter of this year, an analyst with California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office left Wester a voicemail seeking to interview him about the issues referenced in the complaint. Wester provided a copy of the FTC’s automated response acknowledging receipt of his complaint.
News agencies confirmed that the person who called from the California AG’s office works as an analyst there. The government employee did not request confidentiality in the voicemail.
The California attorney general’s press office issued the following statement to the media on Wednesday: “To protect its integrity, we’re unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny, a potential or ongoing investigation.”
Phantom braking, a known issue that Tesla customers have complained about to federal agencies for years, can leave drivers susceptible to being rear-ended, among other dangers.
The car maker’s stock leaped $4.23, or 1.6%, in the early going Thursday to $268.58.
Tech Insider
