Tech entrepreneur Dan O’Dowd, a fierce critic of Tesla, isn’t pumping the brakes on his campaign against the automaker’s self-driving software.
O’Dowd’s “The Dawn Project,” which says it wants to make software systems safer for humanity, is airing two ads during the Super Bowl calling on consumers to boycott the electric automaker’s products and stock after running a similar campaign during last year’s Super Bowl.
First thought: This is weird.
O’Dowd is the president and CEO of the Santa Barbara, California-based software company Green Hills Software. In 2022, he launched a failed bid for the US Senate, running solely on the issue of Tesla’s automated driving software.
Tesla’s driver assistance features like Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving are “designed to further reduce driver workload and make common actions, such as changing lanes or parking, easier,” according to Tesla owner manuals. But O’Dowd said The Dawn Project has “hundreds of hours of video” showing the features malfunctioning in various road conditions.
My 2018 Model 3 has Enhanced Autopilot and it is my single favorite feature of the car. I wouldn’t dream of regularly using it on city streets, but it’s been fantastic on highways. Of the roughly 70k miles on the car, Autopilot has probably driven 70% of those.