Tesla Says Mobileye Tried to Block Its Auto Vision Capability
Tesla Says Mobileye Tried to Block Its Auto Vision Capability : Tesla Motors Inc. said Mobileye NV tried to block its development of vision capability for cars after the supplier of chips and software for driver-assistance systems learned that Tesla was developing its own program.
Mobileye attempted to force Tesla to discontinue this development, demanding the electric-car maker pay the supplier more among requirements in exchange for continuing supply of some hardware, Palo Alto, California-based Tesla said in an e-mailed statement. When Tesla refused to cancel its own development, Mobileye stopped hardware support for future platforms and released public statements implying the discontinuance was motivated by safety concerns, Tesla said.
Mobileye said Tesla was pushing the envelope on safety, according to a Reuters report on Sept. 14, citing Chairman Amnon Shashua in an interview. Two telephone calls to Mobileye’s headquarters in Jerusalem outside regular office hours went unanswered.
In July, Mobileye said its cooperation with Tesla won’t extend beyond the EyeQ3 product. The Jerusalem-based company supplies cameras and technology for Tesla’s Model S sedans, including machine-learning capabilities for its Autopilot suite of features. That function was at the center of a debate over the safety of driver-assist capabilities after Tesla said U.S. regulators were investigating a fatal accident involving a Model S that was driving on Autopilot.
Fully autonomous driving requires a “paradigm shift” in terms of complexity and the “need to ensure an extremely high level of safety,” Mobileye’s Shashua told investors on a conference call in July. “There is much at stake here, to Mobileye’s reputation and to the industry at large,” he said.
Reuters earlier reported Tesla saying Mobileye tried to stop the vision-system development.
Mobileye had knowledge of and collaboration with Tesla on Autopilot functionality for the past three years, Tesla said.
“At no time has Tesla ever said or implied that Autopilot makes a car autonomous or ‘self-driving’ any more than autopilot on a plane, after which it is named, makes a plane self-flying,” Tesla said in the statement. “Any third-party descriptions to this effect are not accurate.”
Source :http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-16/tesla-says-mobileye-tried-to-block-its-auto-vision-capability
