U.S. seeks Tesla driver-assist documents

WASHINGTON - Tesla Inc. disclosed on Tuesday it had received requests from the U.S. Justice Department for documents related to its Full Self-Driving and Autopilot driver-assistance systems as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.

Reuters reported in October Tesla is under criminal investigation over claims that the company's electric vehicles could drive themselves.

The U.S. Justice Department launched the previously undisclosed probe in 2021 following more than a dozen crashes, some fatal, involving Tesla's driver assistance system Autopilot, the people said.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has championed the systems as innovations that will both improve road safety and position the company as a technology leader.

Regulators are examining if Autopilot's design and claims about its capabilities provide users a false sense of security, leading to complacency behind the wheel with possibly fatal results.

Acting National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Ann Carlson said this month the agency is "working really fast" on the Tesla Autopilot investigation it opened in August 2021 that she termed "very extensive." In June, NHTSA upgraded to an engineering analysis its defect probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with Autopilot, a necessary step before the agency could demand a recall.

Autopilot is designed to assist with steering, braking, speed and lane changes. The function currently requires active driver supervision and does not make the vehicle autonomous. Tesla separately sells the $15,000 full self-driving (FSD) software as an add-on that enables its vehicles to change lanes and park autonomously.

The automaker's shares fell 1.5 percent in morning trading.

Tesla also forecast Tuesday capital expenditure between $7 billion and $9 billion in 2024 and 2025. The midpoint of that expectation is $1 billion higher than the $6.00 billion to $8.00 billion range provided for this year.

Some of the spending will go toward a $3.6 billion expansion of its Nevada factory, where Tesla will mass produce its long-delayed Semi truck and build a plant for the 4680 cell that would be able to make enough batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually.

Tesla said it recorded an impairment loss of $204 million on the bitcoin it holds, while booking a $64 million gain from converting the token into fiat currency.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin were hammered last year as rising interest rates and the collapse of major industry players such as crypto exchange FTX shook investor confidence.