Articles by Keith Naughton and Dana Hull

Tesla Insists Driver to Blame for Fatal Crash; Family Hires Lawyer

Tesla Inc. again placed blame for a fatal crash involving a Model X last month on the driver as the man’s family hires a firm to explore legal options. The March 23 death of Walter Huang happened on a clear …

Arizona Became Autonomous Hotbed Prior to Uber’s Deadly Crash

The technology behind autonomous vehicles has originated from coders in Silicon Valley, engineers in Detroit and academic researchers in Pittsburgh. Much of it eventually lands on the streets of Arizona, a state that’s done more than any other to welcome …

Driverless Vehicle Makers Reach Feared Crossroad with Uber Fatality

Last week, Waymo showed a video of people riding in its self-driving minivans. They thumbed their phones, yawned and one snoozed. The message: Driverless cars are so safe, they’re boring. The clip was meant to drum up support for a …

SpaceX Lost Satellite on U.S. Mission Was Uninsured

U.S. taxpayers may end up paying for the missing satellite launched by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. that crashed into the ocean earlier this month, part of a classified U.S. government mission dubbed “Zuma.” Questions remain around the event, …

Grand Theft Auto Video Game Teaches Autonomous Cars How to Drive

In the race to the autonomous revolution, developers have realized there aren’t enough hours in a day to clock the real-world miles needed to teach cars how to drive themselves. Which is why Grand Theft Auto V is in the …

Tesla Introduces ‘Substantial Improvements’ to Autopilot

Elon Musk said Tesla Motors Inc. is updating its Autopilot technology to emphasize radar images over cameras, in his latest attempt to convince critics that the electric-car maker’s semi-autonomous driving features are safe for the public. The biggest change in …

Texas Man in Tesla Autopilot Crash Won’t Sue, But Car Insurer May

A Texas man said the Autopilot mode on his Tesla Model S sent him off the road and into a guardrail, bloodying his nose and shaking his confidence in the technology. He doesn’t plan to sue the electric-car maker, but …

Autopilot Warning May Not Help Tesla in Crash Defense

Telling Tesla drivers its Autopilot feature doesn’t mean their cars can drive themselves may not be enough to keep Elon Musk off the hot seat if the technology comes up short. This month, two Teslas equipped with Autopilot veered into …

Regulators Investigating Fatal Collision of Tesla on Autopilot

U.S. regulators are investigating a fatal accident involving a Tesla Motors Inc. sedan that was driving on autopilot, drawing scrutiny to a key technology the electric-vehicle maker is betting on for the future of self-driving cars. The crash involved a …

Self-Driving Car Developers Betting on Senior Citizen Market

Florence Swanson has lived through every American car from the Ford Model T to the Tesla Model S. Now, at 94, she has stepped into what Google hopes will be the automotive future: self-driving vehicles. After her painting of a …