A jury in Florida has found Tesla partly liable for a 2019 crash in which a Model S sedan using self-driving software killed a pedestrian and severely injured another.
Plaintiffs had argued the assistance software, called Autopilot, should have alerted the driver and activated the brakes before the crash.
Tesla had maintained the driver, George McGee, was at fault and called the verdict “wrong” in a statement to the BBC, while vowing to appeal. The result means the company will have to pay as much as $243m (£189m) in punitive and compensatory damages.
The verdict marks a setback for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, who has touted self-driving technology as critical to the company’s future.
Shares of Tesla dipped following the news and were nearly 2% lower when US markets closed.
Following the verdict, plaintiffs attorneys said Mr Musk had misrepresented the capabilities of the company’s Autopilot driver assistance software. | BBC
