YouTuber Mark Rober faces backlash in a recent video depicting an epic “crash test” of Tesla's autopilot capabilities. Critics have argued that it was an organized hoax to hurt Elon Musk's automaker.
in Videos posted to his YouTube channel Over the weekend, Rober's Tesla Model Y appears to have failed to detect the Weil E. Coyote-style wall painted to look like a road.
However, the Lidar equipped vehicle featured in the same video appeared to pass the test in flying colors. Rober frequently praised Lidar Tech Company's Luminar across the segment, making viewers questioning whether footage was tampered with as part of the elaborate ads.
“Tesla needs to pull data from the car itself and show you exactly what happened,” one user wrote. x's post.
“We know what the data shows, this is a big case of fraud. But I don't think Mark wants to see everything from us,” the user continued, adding that Musk and Tesla “should sue her pants from this guy.”
Representatives from Rober's company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the video, Rober said he was aiming for Tesla on the wall of an autopilot at 40 mph, to see if Tesla's autopilot is being fooled, as it simply relies on simple cameras to navigate the world in contrast to more expensive technology.
Through the test, Former NASA Engineer and Apple Product Designer They praised “fancy cars using more advanced technology,” including vehicles equipped with Luminar's vision-based Lidar technology. The video also included Luminar employees and products.
The video fueled the theory that was secretly sponsored, and Luminar highlighted the video on its corporate website. According to Drive Tesla Canadaa news site about mask car manufacturers.
“We're grateful that Luminar has enabled us to test cars equipped with Lidar,” Rober said in the caption below the YouTube video. “They provided the vehicle for testing purposes, but they were not rewarded. This is not a paid promotion.”
Critics also have problems with the video title: “Can you fool a self-driving car?” Rober claimed he was engaged in Tesla's autopilot function. This is technically a driver assistance feature, and the driver must be careful and ready to take over.
Social media users also tried to drill holes where Rober is supposed to be using the Autopilot feature.
Some argue that the central display image doesn't show Telltale Blue Lines and Rainbow Road indicating that Autopilot is on, making it seem like the feature is not involved in the crash.
Rober responded by posting “raw footage” from crash, dispelling rumors and writing them In a post of x He is not sure why “I'll release 17 frames before hitting the wall, but my feet weren't touching the brakes or gas?”
However, the live footage was further scrutinized by Tesla fanatics who pointed out that the original footage showed autopilots involved at 39 mph. And the new clip shows the system activated at 42 mph, indicating that the test had multiple takes.
Social media users speculated that the video was set up to further damage Tesla's image as a close relationship with Musk's White House through government efficiency spook investors.
Viewers also noted the inconsistency with the Google Pixel smartphone used throughout the test.
Rober is probably using his phone to film some of the footage inside the car. However, social media users questioned why the “G” logo on the back of the phone remains vertical, even when the gadget is level.
The strange details led to speculation that Rober used an iPhone or other smartphone and simply photoshootshop the “G” above. The reason for this is unknown as there is no mention of Google as a sponsor of videos and captions.
The automaker faces protests and vandals at dealers across the country, causing a blow to inventory that has hampered about 40% so far this year.
