Tesla has threatened to sue Dan O’ Dowd, the CEO of Inexperienced Hills Software program and The Daybreak Challenge, after he created and paid for a nationwide TV advert marketing campaign displaying a Tesla automobile mowing down a kid-sized model on a closed take a look at monitor. The advert says the automobile had engaged the automaker’s superior driver-assistance system, branded “Full Self-Driving.”

In a cease-and-desist letter, Tesla mentioned this provocative advert amounted to “misinformation about Tesla” that the “purported assessments” within the advert “misuse and misrepresent the capabilities of Tesla’s expertise,” and that O’Dowd’s “testing is severely misleading and sure fraudulent.”

The Daybreak Challenge marketing campaign went reside Aug. 9, in keeping with a tweet from O’Dowd.

O’Dowd narrates the advert himself, saying: “100 thousand Tesla drivers are already utilizing Full Self-Driving on public roads. I am Dan O’Dowd. I am a security engineer. And Tesla Full Self-Driving is the worst business software program I’ve ever seen — inform Congress to close it down.”

A spokesperson for O’Dowd instructed CNBC he spent “seven figures” and the business was ”airing on lots of of TV stations reaching over 60% of households in America.”

O’Dowd, who’s CEO of each Inexperienced Hills Software program and The Daybreak Challenge, instructed CNBC that the latter is a privately held, tech-safety and safety schooling enterprise. His main enterprise, Inexperienced Hills Software program, makes merchandise that are utilized by direct rivals of Tesla together with Ford and Toyota.

In its cease-and-desist message, Tesla mentioned: “It has come to our consideration that you simply, personally, and The Daybreak Challenge have been disparaging Tesla’s business pursuits and disseminating defamatory info to the general public relating to the capabilities of Tesla’s Full Self Driving (FSD) (Beta) expertise.”

Tesla then demanded that The Daybreak Challenge take away the “Take a look at Observe” movies, subject a public retraction, disclose funding for the assessments and business created by the Daybreak Challenge, and to say whether or not any regulatory businesses endorsed The Daybreak Challenge’s methodology or outcomes for its assessments.

The Washington Put up first reported on the cease-and-desist letter, which was additionally obtained by CNBC.

The Daybreak Challenge’s advertisements had been extensively criticized. Tesla critics mentioned the movies didn’t determine severe questions of safety with the driver-assistance programs, whereas Tesla followers mentioned the take a look at driver appeared to misuse the system to make sure it could collide with the kid-sized model.

After the TV advert went out, some Tesla followers and shareholders devised their very own FSD Beta security assessments to show the vehicles would keep away from hitting kids. They enlisted their very own children for these demonstrations and posted movies to YouTube, which later decided the movies went in opposition to their “dangerous content material” insurance policies, and eliminated them.

On Wednesday, Tesla CEO Musk mentioned in a tweet, “Early beta has many recognized points. The rationale we launch it to a restricted variety of vehicles is to find unknown points.”

On Thursday, Musk tweeted that O’Dowd is “bats— loopy,” utilizing emoji to convey the insult.

O’Dowd mentioned in a name with CNBC on Thursday, “I do not care what he calls me. When is he going to acknowledge and repair the bugs which can be of their system? These issues have been demonstrated. What he ought to do now’s to disable FSD.”

Tesla markets its driver-assistance programs within the U.S. in tiers.

Autopilot is the usual providing shipped in all new Tesla automobiles. Tesla sells a premium choice known as Full Self-Driving (or FSD) for $12,000 or $199 per thirty days. The value for FSD is about to extend to $15,000 in September. 

The automaker permits some drivers entry to a program known as Full Self-Driving Beta in the event that they attain a excessive rating on the corporate’s in-vehicle take a look at. None of those programs make Tesla vehicles autonomous, or secure to make use of with no driver behind the steering wheel, able to brake and attentive to the street always. Tesla proprietor’s manuals warning drivers that the programs don’t make their vehicles self-driving.

The California DMV has alleged that Tesla engages in false promoting the place its driver-assistance programs are involved.

The federal automobile security regulatory company, NHTSA, has a number of investigations underway evaluating the protection of Tesla’s driver-assistance programs from Autopilot to FSD and FSD Beta.