Dan O’Dowd, the person behind the Dawn Project and its attacks on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta has released a brand new video on the eve of the Super Bowl, calling on the NHTSA to shut down the beta testing program.
O’Dowd, the billionaire founding father of Green Hills Software company, launched a Senate campaign in California last yr where he attacked Tesla’s Full Self-Driving program. The antagonist’s goal for the multimillion-dollar ad campaign was to ban the technology on US public roads.
The billionaire eventually lost his ban bid, however the attack morphed into one other form often called “The Dawn Project,” which he still maintains.
Last yr, Tesla sent a stop and desist letter to the Dawn Project over its ad called “The Dangers of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Software.” The ad shows a Tesla Model 3 hitting a baby dummy in an in-house test. The test was unscientific and only focused on the worst performances.
O’Dowd is taking his campaign to recent heights by releasing a brand new video on the eve of the Super Bowl. He tried to hype the ad by posting it on Twitter calling it his “Super Bowl ad,” adding that the National Highway Transport Safety Agency (NHTSA) “must turn off FSD until Tesla fixes all safety defects.”
https://twitter.com/RealDanODowd/status/1624403626973179905?s=20&t=WOFQOLYjZehDLRQWcKBSsg
Although O’Dowd has the resources to run an ad in the course of the Super Bowl it’s unclear if we are going to actually see it on air tomorrow. It might be that he’s merely attempting to hype it as such.
The ad has collected one other set of FSD Beta performances, with Tesla cars hitting dummies in a series of very unscientific tests, just like the videos he released last yr. Additionally it is questionable because he doesn’t test other driver-assist software currently available to indicate how they perform in similar scenarios.
As Tesla has at all times said, the motive force must still at all times listen and be able to take over control of the vehicle at any moment.
Additionally it is value noting that O’Dowd’s Green Hills Software has said it’s working by itself software for driver assist features. This may mean the corporate is a competitor to Tesla in that space.
Campaigns like O’Dowd’s haven’t prevented FSD Beta subscribers from growing 40% in only three weeks in North America. Nonetheless, the NHTSA stopped Tesla from removing FSD Beta steering wheel warning, which has turn out to be a pain within the neck for testers.
Tesla has been the subject of Super Bowl ads before, even though it is often not the one footing the bill.