Tesla's 'Actually Smart Summon' feature in approximately 2.6 million vehicles failed to recognize posts and parked vehicles, leading to multiple crash incidents that prompted a federal safety investigation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating approximately 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over crashes involving the 'Actually Smart Summon' feature. The feature allows vehicle owners to remotely move their Tesla using a smartphone app, with the vehicle using cameras to navigate parking lots without anyone behind the wheel. NHTSA received one formal complaint alleging a crash when the feature was enabled and is reviewing media reports of three other incidents. The agency reported receiving 16 total incidents involving Tesla's smart summon features across 2016-2025 Model S and X vehicles, 2017-2025 Model 3s, and 2020-2025 Model Ys. The investigation covers incidents where users had insufficient reaction time to avoid crashes, either due to limited line of sight or inability to release the phone app button quickly enough to stop the vehicle. Tesla had not reported any of these crashes despite federal rules requiring manufacturers to report crashes involving automated driving systems. Social media videos show Tesla vehicles scraping against other vehicles, colliding with parking signs, and running into walls during summon operations. No injuries have been reported from these incidents.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed