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Tesla coaches Full Self-Drive beta testers on what not to share on social media

The EV maker doesn’t seem to like videos of the program making mistakes going viral. Too late

Coleman Molnar
Sep 30, 2021  •  September 30, 2021  •  1 minute read  •  8 Comments
Reuters journalist Paul Ingrassia sits in the drivers seat of a Tesla Model S in Autopilot mode in San Francisco, California, U.S., April 7, 2016.
Reuters journalist Paul Ingrassia sits in the drivers seat of a Tesla Model S in Autopilot mode in San Francisco, California, U.S., April 7, 2016. Photo by Alexandria Sage /Reuters

Tesla has been testing an unproven and unapproved version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software on public roads, using some of the brand’s most loyal followers as guinea pigs. 

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You’re cool with that, right? 

According to Vice , official beta testers of the new FSD program are being coached by the brand on what to share on social media, and are even required to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to participate.  

The Early Access Program grants a select number of Tesla fans access to the upcoming driver-assistance software, choosing the golden candidates from the pool of those with a perfect 100 points on the new “safety score” system. 

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“Do remember that there are a lot of people that want Tesla to fail; Don’t let them mischaracterize your feedback and media posts,” the NDA reads, going on to prompt EAP testers to “share on social media responsibly and selectively…consider sharing fewer videos, and only the ones that you think are interesting or worthy of being shared.” 

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The perfect example of what Tesla doesn’t want posted to Twitter was recently posted to Twitter by hedge fund manager Galileo Russell, whose Tesla took a sharp and unexpected dive toward a group of pedestrians when it should’ve been navigating straight through an intersection with FSD activated. 

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Videos like this are like gold to the safety officials attempting to regulate the “self-drive” world, like US National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy who recently went on the record with the Wall Street Journal asking for more accountability over “basic safety issues” from Tesla. 

Boss man Elon Musk, meanwhile, seems to have no intention of applying the brakes, Tweeting out his hopes of soon being able to add 1,000 new users to the beta each day. 

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The pioneering electric vehicle company recently packaged up the contentious FSD driver assistance suite into a US$199-per-month subscription program . 

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