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Tesla has placed a strange restriction on its forthcoming self-driving car technology: Customers who will not be allowed to use it to work for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
The rule is listed on Tesla's website, and was spotted by Ars Technica's Jonathan Gitlin. "Please note also that using a self-driving Tesla for car sharing and ride hailing for friends and family is fine," it warns, "but doing so for revenue purposes will only be permissible on the Tesla network, details of which will be released next year."
(The Tesla network is going to be a ride-hailing/taxi network run by the electric car company, though it has yet to officially launch.)
Tesla is effectively telling its customers that even if they buy its cars, they can't use them in a way that would benefit its competitors.
The prohibition raises interesting questions around ownership: Does Tesla have the right to tell people what they can and can't do with their vehicle after they purchase it? And even if the contract permits Tesla to place these kinds of restrictions, will people wade through the legalese and realise it before buying the car?
It's not clear how Tesla intends to actually enforce this ban. The company has got no way of knowing if a driver is using a ride-hailing app, rather than just taking lots of short trips from spot to spot. Will it monitor all customers' journeys to look for suspicious patterns? And what action will it take against offenders if it finds them — sue them? Deactivate their self-driving capabilities?
Tesla's website specifically mentions ride hailing, but the term "revenue purposes" suggests a broader application of this rule. It could feasibly be interpreted as meaning the autonomous driving technology cannot be used for other commercial purposes, like deliveries.
After all, Uber is branching out into delivery services with UberRUSH; it's an area that would also make sense for Tesla to explore with its Tesla network.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Here's the full section from Tesla's website on self-driving tech:
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Rob Price was a senior correspondent at Business Insider, based in San Francisco. He wrote investigations and long-form features about platforms, people, and power in Silicon Valley.His stories variously led to attorney general investigations, large-scale internal reviews at major tech companies, high-profile personnel departures, citation by state and federal lawmakers, and the closure of a well-funded startup. His 2022 story on the Bitfinex hack is being adapted into a feature film, and in 2024 he received an SPJ NorCal Excellence in Journalism award for his reporting on AI and relationships.Rob's scoops and exclusive stories were cited by The New York Times, Bloomberg, the BBC, Associated Press, Reuters, CNBC, Politico, The Guardian, Axios, and many other national and international publications. His writing has also been published in or syndicated by The Washington Post, The Independent, Vice, Slate, and elsewhere, and he appeared on CNN, the BBC, CBS, Reuters, ABC Australia, and other broadcast media to discuss technology, business, and culture.He worked for Business Insider from 2015 to 2025. Prior to joining the features team, Rob covered Facebook and Silicon Valley, and before that wrote about tech business, policy, and the gig economy in London. Between September and October 2019, he was acting executive editor for Business Insider's UK bureau. He also sat on the board of directors for the San Francisco Press Club, the leading non-profit media advocacy group in the Bay Area, and was a volunteer crew member at the Marine Mammal Center, the world's largest animal hospital for marine mammals. You can contact Rob Price via email at robaeprice@gmail.com, or +1 650-636-6268 (Signal / WhatsApp / Cell). Selected stories:— They spoke out against their employer. Then they were hit with trade secrets suits.— The rise of 'shadow stand-ins'— App, Lover, Muse: Inside a 47-year-old Minnesota man's three-year relationship with an AI chatbot— Deel Speed: The inside story of a $12 billion HR startup's breakneck growth— Private islands, flying cars, and psychedelic parties: Inside the wild post-Google lives of Larry Page and Sergey Brin— 'I want your Instagram account': First came the threatening texts, followed by the SWAT teams. Then someone wound up dead.— Inside Iconiq: How Mark Zuckerberg's banker built a secret Silicon Valley empire and made billions— Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams— A drunken late-night assault allegation has roiled the secretive world of Mark Zuckerberg's private family office. Personal aides are speaking out about claims that household staff endured sexual harassment and racism from their colleagues.
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