Blog WSJ: Ambitious Autopilot Push Angered Tesla Engineers

Tesla engineers are reportedly jumping ship because they don’t believe Autopilot 2.0 hardware can meet the fully self-driving promise that Elon Musk proudly touts.

The Wall Street Journal says Sterling Anderson, previously the Autopilot director, decided to leave Tesla in December in part because he didn’t agree with the claims Musk was making about the vehicle’s potential for full autonomy.

According to the WSJ (paywall):

In a meeting after the announcement, someone asked Autopilot director Sterling Anderson how Tesla could brand the product “Full Self-Driving,” several employees recall. “This was Elon’s decision,” they said he responded. Two months later, Mr. Anderson resigned.

The Autopilot division has lost some 10 employees and four managers recently, according to the report. Satish Jeyachandran, the former director of hardware engineering for Tesla’s Autopilot team, and Berta Rodriguez-Hervas, a former machine learning manager also left the company in June. Anderson was succeeded by Chris Lattner, a former Apple developer, but he left in June after just six months on the job.

Tesla has declined to comment on the report.

 

[deonb]

Whoa - I think I just saw another eclipse!

Oh, no. Just a blinding flash of the obvious.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Whoa - I think I just saw another eclipse!

Oh, no. Just a blinding flash of the obvious.

Not sure I understand what you mean.

I'd be disheartened if I had paid for full autopilot. I can almost guarantee extensive litigation over the pre-pay for full autopilot scheme. No way I would pay for it if I were buying now. My AP1 works great however.

 

[deonb]

Not sure I understand what you mean.

I mean it is obvious that's what was going on with the exodus - employees got disheartened by Elon's over-promises.

 

[Mo City]

I think autopilot is the one area we can all agree Elon overpromises to the point of being a liar.

No excuse for it. No amount of rationalization can cover up the false statements.

 

[jgs]

Indeed. The "full self-driving" thing was almost completely unbelievable from the moment the words left his lips, for all kinds of reasons. I'm willing to believe the AP2 hardware can do some great stuff. Full self-driving, meaning without limitations or caveats? No way.

 

[voip-ninja]

I think autopilot is the one area we can all agree Elon overpromises to the point of being a liar.

No excuse for it. No amount of rationalization can cover up the false statements.

He seems to me like the kind of person who lives in the world of the possible, rather than the real world. This has advantages, such as when he pushes and pokes at reality and is able to do amazing things.. it also has disadvantages such as overpromising and underdelivering on everything from delivery dates to feature capabilities.

While I'm not going to cancel my M3 pre-order... As an engineer with limited understanding of the technology challenges I've never really believed that full self driving was going to arrive in this generation of vehicle and would have to be a kind of an extreme optimist to pay $3000 up front for the tantalizing promise of future tech that might never arrive.

 

[bonnie]

Tesla engineers are reportedly jumping ship because they don’t believe Autopilot 2.0 hardware can meet the fully self-driving promise that Elon Musk proudly touts. The Wall Street Journal says Sterling Anderson, previously the Autopilot director, decided to leave Tesla in December in part because he didn’t agree with the claims Musk was making about the...
[WPURI="https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2017/08/25/wsj-ambitious-autopilot-push-angered-tesla-engineers/"]READ FULL ARTICLE[/WPURI]

Even though you use the word 'reportedly', it would be great if you would clearly call this out as speculation with only one source (former employee) stating this to be true.

It's great to keep the forum balanced, but this writeup feels like it's pushing the spin.

 

[3Victoria]

As we recall, there was an incident of Sterling Anderson leaving under less than ideal circumstances and poaching engineers. That hardly fits the storyline of this article. I love the declarations of the impossible from people talking off the top of their heads /s. Churn is expected in Silicon Valley where landing into the right startup can make you a millionaire. Assigning motivations needs more than speculation.

 

[Tam]

...speculation...

My guess: If this is a speculation that has been multiplying in quite a few known and not well-known press outlets and forums, Tesla would promptly issue an official response.

 

[ecarfan]

Tesla engineers are reportedly jumping ship

That statement borders on hyperbole, and apparently is based on one person talking to the WSJ reporter.

I expect better from "TMC staff", whoever they are (I have no idea).

Anyone who wants my real name only has to ask.

 

[Tam]

...I expect better from "TMC staff", whoever they are (I have no idea)...

I think un-named sources who even leak negative info have been constructive for both the public and Tesla.

The last controversy was the leaking of unfoldable second row seats of production-quality Model X and lower charging rate without choice.

The leakers kept the public informed and Tesla used that to revise the option for higher charging rate with an Easter Egg secret ordering page.

It's a win/win situation even when we think it's negative. So, think positive!

 

[bonnie]

I think un-named sources who even leak negative info have been constructive for both the public and Tesla.

The last controversy was the leaking of unfoldable second row seats of production-quality Model X and lower charging rate without choice.

The leakers kept the public informed and Tesla used that to revise the option for higher charging rate with an Easter Egg secret ordering page.

It's a win/win situation even when we think it's negative. So, think positive!

I think it was more the click-baity nature of the TMC summary - certainly that was my issue. Just the thread title alone isn't accurate. One former engineer said that. And we don't know why he's 'former'.

 

[Phrixotrichus]

I think not even Musk believes his own FSD statements.
And I guess it`s not much fun having your boss give such impossible promises when you`re the one who has to fulfill them....

 

[Tam]

...not much fun...

It's only natural that those who can take the impossible challenge would stay and those can't take the heat might just want some other cooler place.

It comes with the territory.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

One might argue it should no longer be an "impossible challenge" when you are taking people's money for it.

Some might leave for ethical considerations, in such a scenario.

 

[conman]

I think not even Musk believes his own FSD statements.
And I guess it`s not much fun having your boss give such impossible promises when you`re the one who has to fulfill them....

Not sure on that. He's still responding to interviews in this last month saying he will demonstrate coast to coast FSD by the end of the year or early next year.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Not sure on that. He's still responding to interviews in this last month saying he will demonstrate coast to coast FSD by the end of the year or early next year.

I wonder if it will be on AP2 or AP2.5. Has the goalpost moved or do they make a point of keeping the old ones?

Not that I don't think AP2 can't do it HW wise. I'm pretty sure it can - I worry more about its regulatory feasibility, but a coast to coast demo is not concerned with that...

 

[mmd]

The dissent was known for a while. CNN published an article on this soon after the first US death last July.
Elon Musk's push for autopilot unnerves some Tesla employees

Those building autopilot were acutely aware that any shortcoming or unforeseen flaw could lead to injury or death -- whether it be blind spots with the car's sensors or drivers misusing the technology.

The FSD part from Oct 2016 is new. Now we know AP2 and FSD wasn't anywhere ready when Tesla started taking $8k for FSD and promised delivery 'soon'. Taking money for non-existent stuff is not really called developing the cutting edge tech. The latter is more about doing. But Tesla gotta keep over promising and under delivering to keep the sales going.

Not sure on that. He's still responding to interviews in this last month saying he will demonstrate coast to coast FSD by the end of the year or early next year.

Oh no! Not one more of the full self driving demo videos! BTW, Delphi did that in March 2015.
Delphi completes first coast-to-coast automated drive | KurzweilAI

 

[AnxietyRanger]

But Tesla gotta keep over promising and under delivering to keep the sales going.

All together now: quarterly demand levers...

Ethics be damned?