Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk dictated the opening text of a 2016 video touting one of the company’s cars being self-driving.
What happened: Musk oversaw the creation of the video and was instrumental in making it, Bloomberg reported, citing internal communications.
In October 2016, Musk reportedly wrote a letter to Tesla’s Autopilot team stressing the importance of the demonstration, and announced it a week later.
“I want to make it clear that everyone’s number one priority is getting a great Autopilot demo drive,” Musk wrote in the report.
Musk also told the team that since this is a “demo,” it’s okay to “hardcore some” with reference to temporary code that can be updated later.
Musk reportedly wrote that he intended to tell the world what cars “can do,” not “what you can do when you receive them.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
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Important reasons: Bloomberg reported that Mr. Musk urged employees to log their daily actions to ensure a successful demonstration.
The entrepreneur reportedly canceled his weekend duty to work with the Autopilot team and notified them in an email with the subject “absolute priority.”
He reviewed the fourth version of the video, stating that there were too many jump cuts and that the footage “must feel like one continuous take”.
Despite Musk’s reportedly telling staff he intended to demonstrate the car’s future capabilities, he reportedly prompted them to open the video with a black screen and three sentences referring to the present. It is
The video begins with the text: he’s not doing anything The car is self-driving. ”
Ashok ElswamyA senior Tesla engineer attested that the 2016 video was recently played. He said the video was produced using 3D mapping over a given route.The vehicle crashed into a fence during a test run.
Price action: Tesla shares Thursday closed 1.25% lower at $127.17 in the regular session and rose 0.9% in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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photograph Courtesy: Thomas Hawk on Flickr