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On the last dayofhislife,JeremyBannerwokebeforedawn
for his morningcommute.HeclimbedintohisredTeslaModel 3
and headed southalongthefringesoftheFloridaEverglades.
Swamps and croplandwhizzedpastina greenblur.
Banner tappeda leveronthesteeringcolumn,anda soft
chime sounded.He’dactivatedthemostcomplexandcontro-
versial auto-safetyfeatureonthemarket:TeslaAutopilot.It’s
a computer systemthatperformsallthefunctionsofnormal
highway drivingwithoutanyinputfromthedriver.Whenthe
computer is incontrol,thecarcanspeedup,changelanes,take
exits, and—if itspotsanobstacleahead—hitthebrakes.
Tesla Inc. aimstodominatetheglobalautomarketbybuild-
ing the world’sfirstself-drivingcar,andit considersAutopilot
to be the crucialfirststep.Customersadoreit.They’velogged
more than 1.5 billionmilesonAutopilot,oftenpushingthelimits
of the software.Althoughtheowner’smanualwarnsdriversto
closely supervisethecaratalltimes,thathasn’tstoppedsome
from reading books,napping,strumminga ukulele,orhaving
sex. Most of thetime,thecargetsthemwherethey’regoing.
But on thatmorninginMarch,Banner’ssedanfailedtospot
a tractor-trailercrossingthefour-lanehighwayaheadofhim.So
did Banner, whoseattentionhadapparentlystrayed.Hestruck
the trailer broadsideat 68 mph,thetopofhiscarshearingoff
like a sardine can.The50-year-oldfatherofthreediedinstantly.
Computer mistakes don’tlook like humanmistakes.
Autopilot haslightningreflexesanditsattentionneverflags,
but it sometimesfailstospothazardsinitspath.Suchover-
sights appearto haveplayeda
role in four offiveknownfatalities
since Autopilotwasintroducedin- Banner’swreck,infact,bore
an uncanny resemblancetoan
earlier one. InAugust,Banner’s
estate sued TeslaunderFlorida’s
WrongfulDeathAct.Theestate’s
argument is a straightforward
product-liabilityclaim:Teslaprom-
ised a safe caranddelivereda dan-
gerously defectiveone.
But Autopilotis unlikealmost
any other consumer product
in history, inwaysthatoffera
preview of theuncomfortable
questions we’llconfrontinthe
dawning robotage.Tesla’sflam-
boyant chiefexecutiveofficer,
Elon Musk, saysthetechnology
saves lives, andlegionsofTesla
owners offertheirowntestimo-
nies of hazardsspottedandcol-
lisions avoided.(Andtheyhave
YouTube videostoproveit.)It’s
possible that bothsidesareright,
that the computersarekillinga
few drivers whootherwise would
havelived,butthatthey’realsosavingthelivesofmany
more.Inthecomingyears,society—inparticular,regulators
andthecourts—willhavetodecidewhetherthat’sanaccept-
abletrade-off.
Thequestionisnolongeracademic.Musk’sdecisionto
putAutopilotinthehandsofasmanypeopleaspossible
amountstoanenormousexperiment,playingoutonfree-
waysallovertheworld.I wasinthepassengerseat,headingnorthonInterstate 405
inLosAngeles,whenOmarQazitookbothofhishandsoff
hissteeringwheel.Weweregoingabout 50 mphonthemost
heavilytraveledhighwayinthecountry,andthewheelof
Qazi’sblackModel3 turnedslightlytotheleft,keepingthe
carcenteredinthegentlycurvinglane.“Thisis likeL.A.rush-
hourtraffic,right?”saidQazi,a 26-year-oldsoftwareengineer.
“It’s,like,flawless.”
Teslahaslegionsofdie-hardfans,manyofthemwell-
to-do,tech-obsessed,andmale.Qaziisprettyclosetothe
archetype.HisTwitterhandle,@tesla_truth,is a bottomless
fontofMuskolatry.BeforewemetinAugust,he’demailed
Musktogivehima heads-upandencouragehimtospeak
withme.ThebillionaireCEO,whodeclinedtobeinterviewed
forthisstory,repliedtohisfanthesameday.“YourTwitter
isawesome!”hesaid,beforeaddinga warning:“Pleasebe
waryofjournalists.Theywillsweettalkyouandthenwack
youwitha baseballbat.”Muskcc’dmeonthemessage.Tesla
alsodeclinedtocomment.
Qazimetmeatthecharging
station outside Tesla’s L.A.-
areaoffices,withoneofMusk’s
SpaceX booster rockets loom-
ing nearby like an industrial obe-
lisk. Qazi wore a day’s worth of
stubble and blue Nike Airs. He
immediately showed me the
experimental Smart Summon fea-
ture, at the time available only to
a select group of Tesla beta testers.
(Qazi got it after begging Musk on
Twitter; the feature rolled out to
regular customers in September.)
He pressed a button on his phone,
and his car pulled out of its spot.
Qazi watched it cross the park-
ing lot and roll toward him. “It’s
not useful—yet,” he said, grinning.
But he loves showing off this trick
so much he’s been known to lin-
ger in a parking lot, waiting for
an audience.
Smart Summon offers a tiny
glimpse of the driverless future
Musk is promising, but for road
driving, Autopilot is as close as itBloomberg Businessweek October 14, 2019Qazi