News
Tesla Autopilot is not the only system that can be tricked into operating with no driver
Back in April, news agencies both local and international news covered a particularly controversial test from Consumer Reports. The magazine concluded that Tesla Autopilot was particularly problematic since it could be fooled into operating without a human driver. Granted, Consumer Reports used several hacks and a defeat device to trick the system, but that was the magazine’s point: if a driver wants to, Tesla Autopilot could be fooled into operating dangerously.
A new, more extensive test from Car and Driver has now proven that it is not only Tesla Autopilot that can be tricked into operating dangerously. Unlike Consumer Reports, which published its conclusions without benchmarking Tesla Autopilot with comparable systems like GM’s Super Cruise, Car and Driver actually gathered 17 vehicles from a variety of brands to test how well their driver-assist systems could detect an inattentive or absent driver.
As it turned out, every single system tested by the Car and Driver team fell prey to driver hacks. The motoring publication found that a good number of the vehicles it tested didn’t even stop when the driver unbuckles the seatbelt, and an even greater number of cars were fooled by a defeat device on the steering wheel. Some vehicles from automakers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz performed well against steering wheel defeat devices, though, as they rely on touch response, not pressure from the driver.
In Consumer Reports’ scathing criticism of Autopilot, the magazine noted that other systems such as GM’s Super Cruise are safer since they rely on eye-tracking technology to detect if the driver is paying attention to the road. To test Super Cruise, Car and Driver had to take the vehicle into an actual highway since the system only worked on pre-mapped areas. But even Super Cruise’s eye-tracking system proved vulnerable since the eye-tracking system was fooled by a simple pair of gag glasses with eyes painted on them.
The same was true when Car and Driver evaluated if driver-assist systems would operate without a human in the driver’s seat. Every single system from the 17 vehicles tested by the motoring publication fell prey to simple hacks like a hockey stick on the accelerator. These included Super Cruise, which operated when gag glasses were placed at the driver’s seat.
Car and Driver was careful to highlight that its tests should not be attempted by anyone at any time. Tricking driver-assist systems, after all, is arguably the most foolish thing act that a driver can perform on the road today. But if there is anything that was proven by its mass tests, it is the fact that driver-assist vulnerabilities are not exclusive to Tesla Autopilot. With this in mind, automakers, from Tesla to GM, must continue to improve their systems to make them far better than they are today, hopefully to a point where hacks and defeat devices become ineffective.
Watch Car and Driver‘s test in the video below.
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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a massive beat on vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, delivering 489,126 vehicles and building 451,758 cars during the three-month span.
This was a major shock for those on Wall Street as they anticipated somewhere around 400,000 deliveries for the quarter, and showed Tesla still has plenty of demand for its vehicles around the world and in the U.S. despite losing the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year.
Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings Results
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.33 reported vs. $0.53 expected
- Revenues – $28.236 billion reported vs. $26.4 billion expected
- Free Cash Flow- -$1.092B
- Profit -$ 4.751B
Tesla (beat/missed) analyst expectations, so the market response to the company’s quarter is what we will look for next.
Tesla shares closed today down just over 1 percent, trading at $374.01.
In the past, it has been anyone’s guess with what Tesla shares will do after they report earnings. Strong quarters have resulted in sharp drops, while lackluster quarters have seen the stock shoot up considerably.
Tesla will hold its Q2 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call https://t.co/zZS6ii2TWK
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Tesla is about to make parking in busy parking lots at businesses and other points of interest less stressful than ever by allowing drivers more control over where they park and how, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Tesla has been working to improve the parking performance of vehicles utilizing the Full Self-Driving suite, but now it is looking to add more customization, allowing drivers to choose the specific space they park in, but also potentially the orientation the car pulls into the spot:
It’s coming soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
Musk has reiterated on X twice over the past several weeks that Tesla is working to make things with the FSD suite based more on the driver’s specific preferences and behaviors that were seen in past drives.
Essentially, it sounds like if you tend to park away from a business to avoid other vehicles, Tesla FSD will soon recognize that preference of yours and start parking further away as well. Additionally, the prospect of assigned parking spaces has been something many owners have voiced concerns about.
Living in a community with assigned parking spaces makes using FSD incredibly difficult as it will rarely park in the correct spot when there are so many to choose from. This is also pertinent in work settings where there are sometimes assigned parking spaces.
The updates to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite in terms of listening to driver preferences with parking are also extending to routing. Tesla announced yesterday that with the release of its 2026 Summer Update, it was adding Automatic Navigation and Preferred Routes:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla has always maintained the idea that any human input is bad input, and that, ideally, Tesla Full Self-Driving will always make the right decision. Of course, this is all in theory, but the issue is that so many of Tesla’s interventions have come because it does something that is not necessarily wrong, but perhaps not what the driver would prefer.
Taking these preferences into account will help Tesla alleviate some of the potentially unnecessary interventions that drivers perform.
Tesla is starting to prepare for the launch of the Optimus robot in its smartphone app, new coding strings show. Elon Musk has referred to Optimus as what will be the greatest-selling product of any kind of all time, and now, Tesla is getting ready for its launch.
Tesla’s smartphone app had several first-time mentions of the Optimus program, according to Tesla App Updates, who intially reported on the appearance. Here’s what they found:
A Dedicated “Robot” Phone Key Authentication
Tesla is working on a Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, authentication that is specifically for robots. This does not only apply to Optimus, though, as Robotaxi, which is Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, might also identify vehicles within the fleet as robots as well.
Tesla shows rapid teardown of Model S and X lines, paving the way for Optimus at Fremont
Essentially, pairing your phone as a key to anything Tesla identifies as a robot to a “whitelist” of authorized devices. Optimus, Robotaxi, or other products that fall into this category will only respond if the device trying to communicate with it is authorized.
This is a great security feature that will eliminate at least face-value and low-level threats.
Home Data Collection and System Alerts
This appears to be somewhat of a neural network for Optimus within your house. There will be a dedicated screen that asks for consent to collect both video and spatial data while Optimus performs in-home tasks. Everything from vacuuming, washing dishes, dusting, and other activities will be tracked.
There will also be a comprehensive alert system that will track everything from low battery to mechanical issues.
Other Changes
Most of the changes tracked in this particular app update are related to Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, and include things such as image assets for new features, a preview of the new custom wraps feature, and other unique features.
You can check out our coverage on what is included with the 2026 Summer Update here:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
