Raise your hand if you’re bored reading about Elon Musk. The rest of you, switch to a recent version of The New York Times Magazine, prepare a large latte — maybe two – and steady to absorb over 7,000 words trying to explain what makes Musk tick.
Lawsuits, accidents, deaths and near-misses collide in this provocative, outrageous achievement that will test the patience of all but the most confirmed of Musk-o-stans.
It’s worth repeating the first paragraph of the story to understand the story’s premise and understand what’s next:
“From the very beginning, the software had an unfortunate habit of hitting police patrol cars. No one knows why, though Teslas engineers had some correct predictions: stationary objects and flashing lights seem to fool the AI (artificial intelligence). The car was running fine, the computer was fine, and all of a sudden it turned right or left and — bein – at least 10 times in just over three years.
In the next paragraph, this: “… these incidents seem like a problem. But to Elon MuskTesla executives, they presented an opportunity.”
Heartless? Selfish? Genius? Take your pick to describe Mr. Musk’s character, one of Christopher Cox’s quests in “Elon Musk’s Appetite for Destruction” (thank you, Guns N’ Roses). His actions are told through the lens of two Tesla drivers who were involved in an accident while using the car’s self-driving system, and through interviews with Musk’s attorneys and associates (but nothing of the sort). surprised there was no interview with Musk himself).
Cox details the trip with owner David Alford of Fresno, California, who posted a videotapes showing his 2020 3 . sample in full self-driving mode when approaching a red light but the car does not stop. Instead, Cox wrote, “It Rolls into the intersection, where it was about to collide with oncoming traffic, until Alford took over.” This is despite Tesla running the latest AI software update. Cox, in the car driven by Alford, describes how to approach another intersection with Autopilot commanded:
“The Tesla started creeping out, trying to get a better view of the cars coming from our left. It inched, inching forward, until we were once again fully in the traffic lane. There’s nothing stopping the Tesla from accelerating and completing the bend, but instead, it just sits there. At the same time, a cheater Honda fit accelerated toward us, about three seconds left before hitting the driver’s door. Alford quickly took over and hit the gas, and we got out safely.”
The Times endeavors to document the good, the bad, and the ugly about Musk, his uncompromising defense of autonomous driving, his mission to send us to Mars, his questionable personality. “Musk is simply a narcissist,” the author writes, “and every reckless act he takes is only meant to attract the world’s attention.”
Then there’s the man’s insight, where Musk offered his condolences to the father of a son who died after his Tesla crashed while driving. skirunning. But in this long, long story, even here, Musk can’t resist his defense of a higher calling: “I want to make sure we get it right. Best for most people.” A revealing comment by many in the story.
