Tesla’s self-driving claims subject to federal securities and wire fraud probe

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Tesla | Airplane!)

There's more bad news for Tesla. On Monday, we learned that CEO Elon Musk is continuing to slash his way through the company payroll as Tesla went through a fourth round of layoffs in four weeks. Yesterday, we discovered exactly what questions the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants answered about the safety of Tesla's Autopilot driver assist. And today, it emerged that the US Department of Justice is investigating whether or not Tesla committed securities or wire fraud by making misleading statements about Autopilot and its so-called "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) option.

Reuters reported that three people familiar with the matter told it about the investigation. One of the sources also told Reuters that the Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Tesla's claims about its driver assists.

Not the first time

This isn't the first time Tesla has been accused of securities fraud. In 2018, Musk agreed to a settlement with the SEC over his infamous "funding secured" tweet that sent the company's share price skyrocketing despite the fact that there was never actually a possibility that he would take the company private. As a result, Musk was required to step down as chairman, and both Musk and Tesla were ordered to pay $20 million in penalties, to be distributed to investors who lost money after being misled by Musk.