Tesla insiders who trained the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software are warning owners not to trust the system, according to a Reuters investigation. The report reveals that hundreds of Tesla workers, known as data labellers, spend their days reviewing footage from vehicles equipped with FSD, and what they have seen has raised serious concerns.
Basic Maneuvers Still a Struggle
Nine former labellers and a former Tesla self-driving engineer told Reuters that FSD continues to struggle with basic maneuvers. Video footage captured from Tesla's FSD cameras shows cars striking cats, dogs, and deer, as well as near-misses with children playing in the street. Seven of the former labellers and the engineer said they would not trust the technology to drive them.
One former labeller stated, "We have all seen it fail." Another said he would not ride in a Tesla robotaxi "if you f***ing paid me." The former self-driving engineer, who spent years reviewing Tesla crash data, called the company's safety claims "bullsh*t" and added, "Don't trust Elon on this."
Elon Musk's Bold Promises
These revelations come as Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to make bold promises about FSD. At a recent shareholders meeting, Musk claimed Tesla was close to allowing drivers to take their eyes off the road entirely. "We almost feel comfortable allowing people to text and drive, which is kind of the killer app," he said. "In the next month or two, we're going to look closely at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive, essentially." However, six months later, Tesla has yet to approve texting while using FSD.
Flawed Safety Data
Tesla claims FSD is up to 10 times safer than a human driver, a figure Musk and other executives have repeatedly cited. But Reuters found that Tesla's comparison of its own crash data to federal crash data is flawed. According to the analysis, Tesla measures its crash rate using only incidents serious enough to trigger airbag deployments, then compares that against a federal dataset on crashes involving a tow truck removing a vehicle. The automaker also benchmarks its vehicles against the average US car, which is significantly older than the average Tesla.
Phil Koopman, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University and autonomous-vehicle safety expert, said the data appears skewed because newer vehicles are safer across all brands, regardless of autonomous features. "Any new car is dramatically safer than a 12-year-old car," he said. "It's like saying: 'My jet airplane is faster than your World War II bomber.' Yeah, so, what's your point?"
Robotaxi Concerns
Former Tesla employees also raised questions about how the company presents its technology publicly, particularly regarding its ride-sharing service, Robotaxi. They revealed that ahead of demonstrations, staff worked long hours mapping routes and training the software on specific hazards. In a Robotaxi pilot in Texas, some human safety monitors rode in the cars while others worked remotely. Former staffers say these labour-intensive safeguards would be nearly impossible to implement on a large scale.
Despite these concerns, Musk claims Tesla's self-driving technology will work globally, relying solely on cameras and AI, and that current Tesla owners will be able to get full autonomy through software updates. In Australia, FSD is available in cars supporting HW4 hardware and can handle many driving situations, though it requires driver supervision and has struggled in complex scenarios.
