Tesla and CEO Elon Musk scored another win Tuesday when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing them of defrauding shareholders over the safety and effectiveness of the company’s driver-assist technology.
US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin said that plaintiffs failed to prove that Musk acted with “deliberate recklessness” when he claimed that Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technology could drive safer than humans.
Many of Musk’s claims about self-driving capabilities amount to “corporate puffery,” or exaggerations about future products, the judge determined. Other claims could be categorized as “forward-looking statements,” in that they addressed future expectations for the technology. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be relitigated with amendments.
The dismissal was the latest legal win for Tesla, which has been racking up victories in court over its advanced driver-assist technology. The company won two jury trials last year, both of which alleged that Autopilot was to blame for vehicle crashes.
Tesla still faces a number of investigations over its self-driving claims, including probes by the California attorney general’s office and the US Department of Justice. And its recall of Autopilot earlier this year prompted another investigation into whether the company actually fixed the original problems.
Musk is expected to unveil Tesla’s long-awaited fully autonomous robotaxi on October 10th.
(Originally posted by Andrew J. Hawkins)