Tesla faces NHTSA investigation of ‘Full Self-Driving’ after fatal collision
A Tesla Model 3 vehicle warns the driver to keep their hands on the wheel and be prepared to take over at anytime while driving using FSD (Full Self-Driving) in Encinitas, California, U.S., October 18, 2023.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Tesla faces a new investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, concerning issues with its “Full Self-Driving” systems, and whether they are safe to use in fog, glaring sun or other “reduced roadway visibility conditions.”
The probe follows an incident in which a Tesla driver who had been using FSD, struck and killed a pedestrian, and other FSD-involved collisions during reduced roadway visibility conditions.
Records posted to the NHTSA website on Friday morning said the purpose of the new probe would be to assess:
“The ability of FSD’s engineering controls to detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions; whether any other similar FSD crashes have occurred in reduced roadway visibility conditions and, if so, the contributing circumstances for those crashes,” among other things.
The agency will also look into Tesla’s over-the-air, software updates to its FSD systems, which are now marketed as “Full Self-Driving (Supervised),” to understand the “timing, purpose, and capabilities of any such updates, as well as Tesla’s assessment of their safety impact.”
The “preliminary evaluation” by the NHTSA pertains to a vehicle population of around 2.4 million Tesla EVs on U.S. roads including: Model S and X vehicles produced from 2016 to 2024, Model 3 vehicles produced from 2017 to 2024, Model Y vehicles produced from 2020 to 2024, and Cybertruck vehicles produced this year and last, which give drivers the option to use Tesla’s FSD.
FSD, which the company now refers to as a “partial driving automation system,” is Tesla’s paid, premium driver assistance option. But Tesla has offered it to all drivers for a monthlong free trial in the U.S., previously.
The U.S. federal vehicle safety regulator tracks collisions involving the use of automakers’ advanced driver assistance systems, like Tesla’s Autopilot or FSD. As of Oct. 1, 2024, the NHTSA had tracked 1,399 incidents in which Tesla’s driver assistance systems were engaged within 30 seconds of the collision, and 31 of those had resulted in fatalities.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company recently held a marketing event in which CEO Elon Musk said Tesla expects to have “unsupervised FSD” up and running in Texas and California next year in the company’s Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles.
Musk has promised driverless vehicles for years. But Tesla has not yet produced or shown a vehicle that is safe to use on public roads without a human at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.
Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi speaks at the opening night of the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 2024.
Rodin Eckenroth | Filmmagic | Getty Images
Intuit shares fell 6% in extended trading Thursday after the finance software maker issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter that trailed analysts’ estimates due to some sales being delayed.
Here’s how the company performed in comparison with LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $2.50 adjusted vs. $2.35 expected
- Revenue: $3.28 billion vs. $3.14 billion
Revenue increased 10% year over year in the quarter, which ended Oct. 31, according to a statement. Net income fell to $197 million, or 70 cents per share, from $241 million, or 85 cents per share, a year ago.
While results for the fiscal first quarter topped estimates, second-quarter guidance was light. Intuit said it anticipates a single-digit decline in revenue from the consumer segment because of promotional changes for the TurboTax desktop software in retail environments. While that will affect revenue timing, it won’t have any impact on the full 2025 fiscal year.
Intuit called for second-quarter earnings of $2.55 to $2.61 per share, with $3.81 billion to $3.85 billion in revenue. The consensus from LSEG was $3.20 per share and $3.87 billion in revenue.
For the full year, Intuit expects $19.16 to $19.36 in adjusted earnings per share on $18.16 billion to $18.35 billion in revenue. That implies revenue growth of between 12% and 13%. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $19.33 in adjusted earnings per share and $18.26 billion in revenue.
Revenue from Intuit’s global business solutions group came in at $2.5 billion in the first quarter. The figure was up 9% and in line with estimates, according to StreetAccount. Formerly known as the small business and self-employed segment, the group includes Mailchimp, QuickBooks, small business financing and merchant payment processing.
“We are seeing good progress serving mid-market customers in MailChimp, but are seeing higher churn from smaller customers,” Sandeep Aujla, Intuit’s finance chief, said on a conference call with analysts. “We are addressing this by making product enhancements and driving feature discoverability and adoption to improve first-time use and customer retention.”
Better outcomes are a few quarters away, Aujla said.
CreditKarma revenue came in at $524 million, above StreetAccount’s $430 million consensus.
At Thursday’s close, Intuit shares were up about 9% so far in 2024, while the S&P 500 has gained almost 25% in the same period.
On Tuesday Intuit shares slipped 5% after The Washington Post said President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” had discussed developing a mobile app for federal income tax filing. But a mobile app for submitting returns from Intuit is “already available to all Americans,” CEO Sasan Goodarzi told CNBC’s Jon Fortt.
Goodarzi said on CNBC that he’s personally communicating with leaders of the incoming presidential administration.
On the earnings call, Goodarzi sounded optimistic about the economy.
“Our belief, which is not baked into our guidance, is that we will see an improved environment as we look ahead in 2025, particularly just with some of the things that I mentioned earlier around just interest rates, jobs, the regulatory environment,” he said. “These things have a real burden on businesses. And we believe that a better future is to come.”
WATCH: H&R Block, Intuit shares fall after report Trump administration is considering a free tax-filing app
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