Tesla Faces Criminal Probe Week After Musk Brags About Self-Driving Cars

Elon Musk, the bombastic multibillion-dollar man, is facing a new federal criminal investigation.

Reuters reported that his company Tesla Inc. is currently under criminal investigation by the United States Department of Justice over claims that the company's electric vehicles can drive themselves using a controversial "autopilot" feature.

The previously undisclosed probe, according to the outlet, was launched last year following more than a dozen crashes resulting in injury involving vehicles reportedly using the company's optional automatic guidance system, which allows the vehicle to steer itself, accelerate and brake without driver intervention.

However, news of the probe was not made public until Wednesday—approximately six days after Musk claimed Tesla would soon release an upgraded version of its full self-driving software allowing drivers to travel to a place of their choosing, park, and change lanes in traffic without ever touching the wheel.

"We're expecting to release the full self-driving software to anyone who orders the package by the end of this year," Musk said during an earnings call with investors last week. "So, a separate matter as to will it have regulatory approval. It won't have regulatory approval at that time. But the car will be able to take you from your home to your work, your friend's house, to the grocery store without you touching [the] wheel."

Tesla's vehicles, by definition, are not fully autonomous and legally require someone in the driver's seat. However, the company has suggested in its marketing materials that the vehicles can drive themselves, and Musk has largely blamed user error for the various, sometimes fatal, mishaps that have occurred with the system.

But the issues have been adding up.

In July, the company was forced to reimburse a German customer after a court deemed the vehicle they had bought was a "massive hazard" due to issues with its driver assistance system. Meanwhile, numbers published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June found Tesla vehicles made up almost 70 percent of the nearly 400 crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems over the past year.

The investigation, if indeed active, would not be the first, or even the first this year, to be revealed against Musk.

After a series of investigations launched in 2018 during Musk's bid to take his company private, he has faced additional probes on allegations of insider trading. Earlier this month, he was alleged by lawyers representing Twitter of being under a criminal investigation for his conduct in an effort to purchase the social media giant.

Newsweek has reached out to Tesla for comment.