Electrek ran a reader survey asking who should be held responsible when an AI-driven taxi fails and people get hurt. The poll drew nearly 3,000 responses, coinciding with the Tesla Cybercab unveiling and news of Tesla Semi production. The results were lopsided: roughly 90% of votes placed blame on the developers of the AI driving the car, while just 102 votes — about 3.5% — chose the option saying the human in the driver's seat bears responsibility.
The author, Jo Borrás, admitted he initially favored personal responsibility, but changed his mind after reading reader comments. Some commenters argued that the registered vehicle owner should be liable, comparing it to lending a car to someone who crashes. Others made the case that owners cannot be blamed if they had no way to prevent an accident, unless they ignored manufacturer instructions like software updates or geofencing.
A recurring suggestion was to split liability between the car manufacturer and the AI developer, since both work together to bring the vehicle to market. The survey did not settle the legal question, but it highlights a clear shift in reader opinion: as autonomous vehicles become more common, the public increasingly looks past the person in the seat and toward the companies building the software.