The federal agency that is responsible for road safety, which has investigated whether self-driving technology in Tesla vehicles played a role in the death of a pedestrian, will dismiss a “modest” number of employees, a spokesperson for the office said at the end of Friday.
The agency did not say whether one of the dismissed employees was involved in studies by Tesla, whose Chief Executive, Elon Musk, leads the Ministry of Government Efficiency established by President Trump.
The efficiency department has forced dismissal from numerous government agencies as part of an attempt to reform the federal bureaucracy. Mr. Musk has retained the control over Tesla while spending a lot of his time in Washington.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has three active studies from Tesla, according to documents from agencies, including an investigation whether the company's autonomous driving software is susceptible to failure when visibility is poor.
The dismissals at the Road Safety Agency, which has fewer than 1,000 employees, were previously reported by the Washington Post. Even after the dismissals, the agency continues to employ more people than at the start of the Biden administration, the agency said in a statement.
“The last government grew by no less than 30 percent,” the agency said in a statement.
“We have retained positions that are crucial for the mission to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to traffic accidents,” the agency said. “We will continue to maintain the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
One of the Tesla investigations is based on four accidents with technology that the car manufacturer mentions, under the supervision of full self -driving, which in some situations can steer in some situations, brake and navigate. In one of the crashes, a Tesla hit and killed a pedestrian, according to documents from the office. A person was injured in another accidents.
Tesla's self -driving technology is based on cameras to investigate the environment of a car, in contrast to competitors such as Waymo, a unit of the same company as Google, who also uses lasers and radar to recognize objects.
The Road Safety Agency investigated whether Tesla's technology failed when visibility was bad due to blinding the sun, fog or dust.
Mr. Musk has often argued that Tesla self -driving technology is safer than human drivers.
The technology is also crucial for the future and the stock price of Tesla. Because the sale of Tesla is marked, 1 percent fell last year, even when the global market for electric vehicles rose by 25 percent, Mr. Musk shifted the focus of the company to autonomous driving technology and plans for a self -driving taxi.
The technology will help Tesla to make by far the most valuable company in the world, Mr. Musk told investors last month.
