Mobileye tried to block development of vision capability for cars: Tesla

Tesla Motors has alleged Mobileye NV tried to block its development of vision capability for cars. Mobileye supplies chips and software for driver-assistance systems, but according to Tesla, the company tried to block the development after  learning that Tesla was developing its own programme.

Mobileye attempted to force Tesla to discontinue this development, demanding the electric-car maker pay the supplier more among requirements in exchange for continuing supply of some hardware, the Palo Alto, California-based Tesla said in an e-mailed statement.

Tesla added, when Tesla refused to cancel its own development, Mobileye stopped hardware support for future platforms and released public statements implying the discontinuance was motivated by safety concerns, Tesla said.

According to Mobileye, Tesla was "pushing the envelope on safety", Reuters reported on 14 September citing chairman Amnon Shashua in an interview.

Mobileye said in July that its cooperation with Tesla would not extend beyond the EyeQ3, the processor that Tesla vehicles use for image analysis intelligence that enabled Tesla's driver-assisted autonomous tech.

The Jerusalem-based company is a supplier of cameras and technology for Tesla's Model S sedans, including machine-learning capabilities for its Autopilot suite of features.

Following a fatal accident involving a Tesla Model S on Autopilot, the safety of the safety of driver-assist capabilities was in question as US regulators investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, Mobileye's chairman said on Wednesday that Tesla's Autopilot driver-assistance-system was not designed to cover all possible crash situations in a safe manner.

"It is not designed to cover all possible crash situations in a safe manner," Shashua, who is also chief technology officer at the Israel-based maker of collision detection and driver assistance systems, told Reuters.

''No matter how you spin it, (Autopilot) is not designed for that. It is a driver assistance system and not a driver-less system,'' he said in an interview.

The safety of Autopilot is now being questioned after a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S driver using the new technology in May  (See: Florida death puts big question-mark on Tesla autopilot). Tesla said in a blogpost after the accident that "neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied."