YouTuber Mark Robers Tesla Autopilot crash test sparks hoax accusations: Should sue the pants off this guy

YouTuber Mark Rober is facing backlash over a recent video that depicted a spectacular “crash test” of Tesla’s Autopilot feature — with critics claiming it was a hoax orchestrated to hurt Elon Musk’s automaker.In a video posted to his YouTube channel over the weekend, Rober’s Tesla Model Y seemingly failed to detect a Wile E.Coyote-style wall painted to look like a road – crashing through and demolishing a mannequin designed to look like a child.But a LiDAR-equipped vehicle featured in the same video appeared to pass the test with flying colors.

Rober praised LiDAR tech company Luminar so often throughout the segment that viewers questioned whether the footage was tampered with as part of an elaborate advertisement. “Tesla needs to pull the data from the car itself and show us exactly what happened,” one user wrote in a post on X.“I know what the data will show, that this was a huge case of fraud.

But I doubt Mark wants us to see all that,” the user continued, adding that Musk and Tesla “should sue the pants off this guy.”Representatives for Rober’s company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.In the video, Rober said he was aiming the Tesla at the wall on Autopilot going 40 miles per hour “to see if Tesla’s Autopilot can be tricked because it famously only relies on simple cameras to navigate the world as opposed to much more expensive tech.”Throughout the test, the former NASA engineer and Apple product designer praised “fancy cars that use more advanced technology,” like vehicles powered by Luminar’s vision-based LiDAR technology.The video also included Luminar employees and merchandise. Fueling theories that the video was secretly sponsored, Luminar highlighted the video on its corporate website – later deleting it when backlash unfolded, according to Drive Tesla Canada, a news site about Musk’s automaker.“Thanks to Luminar for allowing us to test their LiDAR-equipped car,” Rober said in the ca...