Apple is being pulled into Tesla’s impending Autopilot crash trial.

Tesla is heading to court next week to address concerns surrounding its Autopilot system and its involvement in a fatal crash in 2018. In an interesting twist, Tesla is seeking Apple’s testimony to support its defense. Tesla claims that Apple engineer Wei “Walter” Huang was distracted by playing a video game on his phone when the accident occurred. However, Huang’s family, who is suing Tesla for wrongful death, believes that Tesla and Apple are collaborating secretly to defend the case.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s initial investigation found that Huang had a video game open on his phone at the time of the crash, but it was unclear if he was actively playing it. Huang’s family argues that he was passively running games to collect data. Tesla and Apple are facing backlash for submitting testimony from an Apple engineer, James Harding, at the last minute without allowing proper questioning.

This upcoming trial will be significant for Tesla, as it will test Tesla’s strategy of attributing Autopilot crashes to driver distraction. The Huang case will be pivotal in determining the success of this defense. Tesla claims that Autopilot is safe as long as drivers remain attentive, but Huang’s legal team intends to highlight instances where Tesla executives have admitted to being distracted while using Autopilot.

Overall, the collaboration between Tesla and Apple in this legal battle sheds light on the complexities surrounding autonomous driving technologies and the responsibility of both drivers and manufacturers in ensuring safety on the roads.



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