Elon Musk announced on Thursday that the Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta is now open to anyone in North America.
“Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta is now available to anyone in North America who requests it from the car screen, assuming you have bought this option. Congrats to Tesla Autopilot/AI team on achieving a major milestone!,” the Tesla CEO tweeted.
The launch of FSD comes as Tesla is being investigated by the US Department of Justice for potentially false claims about Autopilot, the company’s advanced driver assistance system.
In September, a Tesla owner sued the electric car maker, saying the company and its CEO are “deceptively and misleadingly” marketing the Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” software.
Briggs Matsko of California stated that he paid a $5,000 premium for his 2018 Tesla Model X to get ‘Enhanced Autopilot,’ which was marketed as a precursor to FSD software, which now costs $15,000 but is still in Beta.
Furthermore, in August, Musk faced intense scrutiny over the controversial Autopilot advanced driver assistance system, which has allegedly killed many people, with both federal and state regulators stepping up their scrutiny of the electric carmaker.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also elevated its investigation from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, requesting answers about Tesla’s cabin camera as part of an investigation into 830,000 vehicles equipped with Autopilot.
Musk stated at Tesla AI Day 2022 that the FSD technology will be ready for global deployment by the end of this year.
