Tesla says Elon Musk's statements on self-driving 'might have been deep fakes' in bizarre defense

[Caribbeans]

Electrek | Fred Lambert | Apr 27 2023

Tesla has decided to use a bizarre defense in a lawsuit brought by the family of a Tesla owner who died in an accident while using Autopilot a few years ago.

The automaker claimed that CEO Elon Musk shouldn’t be made available to explain some of his statements on self-driving because some of the public comments might have been “deep fakes.”...

...Judge Evette D. Pennypacker didn’t buy the argument. She said in her judgment (via The Telegraph):

Their position is that because Mr Musk is famous and might be more of a target for deep fakes, his public statements are immune. In other words, Mr Musk, and others in his position, can simply say whatever they like in the public domain, then hide behind the potential for their recorded statements being a deep fake to avoid taking ownership of what they did actually say and do.

Electrek’s Take

That’s bizarre. If Tesla thinks some of the statements are deep fakes, it should say exactly which ones and try to prove it. But the capability to create deep fakes certainly doesn’t make anyone immune to scrutiny on their statement...

Is he now going to claim that he never said that Tesla would have 1 million robotaxis on the road by the end of the year three years ago? Was it a deep fake? Was it also a deep fake when he said it again the next year? That’s just ridiculous and worrying that Tesla would try such a defense. I guess that Tesla’s new “hardcore litigation team” at work...more
https://electrek.co/2023/04/27/tesla-elon-musk-self-driving-deep-fakes/

Link to tweet

[Faux pas]

1. ...

Can he be deported? He's effed with us enough. Let him be a problem somewhere else.

[2naSalit]

3. +1

[2naSalit]

2. Oh please!

Now they are starting to sound just like egor.

[Bev54]

4. Is this going to be the new defence for every idiotic thing said by Musk and others who cannot

hold their tongues or say stupid things?

[moniss]

5. This is precisely what

is so outrageous about this clown and his car company with respect to public statements issued to keep pumping the stock of the company despite the statements being demonstrably false and misleading. It is highly illegal to engage in that behavior but he gets a pass.