Tesla to show self-driving car progress to investors

[SAN FRANCISCO] Tesla announced on Wednesday that it will give investors an up-close look at its self-driving car in a bid to bolster confidence in the progress of the nascent technology.

Tesla co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk and other executives will take part in presentations to investors at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters on April 19.

"Tesla is making significant progress in the development of its autonomous driving software and hardware, including our FSD computer, which is currently in production and which will enable full-self driving via future over-the-air software updates," the electric carmaker said in a release.

The event will include test drives and is intended to provide an in-depth look at Tesla's self-driving vehicle progress, according to the company, which declined to comment further.

A race to get autonomous vehicles on roads has raised concerns that the technology might be deployed before it is ready, putting people at risk.

China-based Tencent Keen Security Lab last week posted a video of its researchers tricking a self-driving Tesla into changing lanes into oncoming traffic by affixing stickers to the pavement in a controlled setting.

"Tesla autopilot recognizes lanes and assists control by identifying road traffic markings," Keen said in a blog post.

"Based on the research, we proved that by placing interference stickers on the road, the autopilot system will capture this information and make an abnormal judgement, which causes the vehicle to enter into the reverse lane."

AFP