Did Tesla remotely deactivate a Cybertruck in the course of a freeway as a result of the proprietor featured it in an unauthorized music video? The story already appeared extremely unlikely, and on Monday afternoon, Tesla tweeted in regards to the video, saying, “That is pretend – that’s not our display. Tesla does NOT disable automobiles remotely.”
On Sunday, Instagram consumer @bighuey313 posted a video of his supposed deactivated Cybertruck, full with a flashing purple warning message on the truck’s essential touchscreen. “Canine wtf my cybertruck simply shut off on the freeway! 😡” he wrote within the caption. “Nearly simply crashed wtf @teslamotors.”
The proprietor additionally posted a picture of what he claimed was a cease-and-desist letter from Tesla’s vp of authorized affairs, Dinna Eskin. The letter cites “unauthorized use of Tesla’s mental property in musical content material distributed below your identify.”
The video rapidly went viral on BlueSky, the place anti-Elon Musk sentiment has helped gas nationwide protests towards Tesla. However customers rapidly observed various discrepancies, similar to the truth that the letter opens “We characterize Tesla” regardless of being signed by the corporate’s in-house counsel. The letter additionally makes use of Eskin’s outdated title, “Sr. Director and Deputy Basic Counsel,” regardless of her present title of VP. And the warning message isn’t formatted like Tesla’s typical in-vehicle alerts and notifications. An X consumer speculated that the flashing purple title was seemingly only a YouTube video taking part in on fullscreen to simulate a authentic error.
Regardless of these points, the video went viral on BlueSky, X, and Reddit — and sure will proceed to journey far and large, confirming many individuals’s prior opinions about Tesla and Elon Musk.
