(Reuters) — Tesla Inc disclosed on Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department has sought documents related to its fully self-driving and Autopilot driver assistance systems as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.
The automaker said in a filing that it “has received requests from the DOJ for documents related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features.”
Reuters reported in October that Tesla is under criminal investigation for claims that the company’s electric vehicles could drive themselves. Reuters said the US Justice Department launched the probe in 2021 after more than a dozen crashes, some of them fatal, with Autopilot.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
CEO Elon Musk has championed the systems as innovations that will both improve road safety and position the company as a technology leader.
Regulators are investigating whether Autopilot̵
7;s design and claims about its capabilities give users a false sense of security, leading to complacency behind the wheel with potentially fatal results.Acting director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Ann Carlson said this month that the agency is “working really quickly” on the Tesla Autopilot investigation it opened in August 2021 that she called “very extensive.” In June, NHTSA upgraded to a technical analysis of its defective probe for 830,000 Tesla vehicles with Autopilot, a step necessary before the agency could require a recall.
The autopilot is designed to assist with steering, braking, speed and lane changes. The feature currently requires active driver monitoring and does not make the vehicle autonomous. Tesla separately sells the $15,000 full self-driving software as an add-on that enables its vehicles to change lanes and park autonomously.
The automaker’s shares rose 2% in early trading.
The Wall Street Journal reported in October that the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting a civil investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot statements, citing sources.
Tesla also forecast Tuesday’s capex between $7 billion and $9 billion in 2024 and 2025. The midpoint of that expectation is $1 billion higher than the $6 billion to $8 billion range for this year.
Some of the spending will go toward a $3.6 billion expansion of its Nevada Gigafactory complex, where Tesla will mass-produce its long-delayed Semi truck and build a 4680-cell facility that could produce enough batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually.
Tesla said it recorded a $204 million impairment loss on the bitcoin it holds, while posting a $64 million gain from converting the token to fiat currency.
Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin were hammered last year as rising interest rates and the collapse of major industry players such as crypto exchange FTX shook investor confidence.
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