That viral video of a 'deactivated' Tesla Cybertruck is a fake

https://www.theverge.com/tesla/757594/tesla-cybertruck-deactivated-viral-video-fake

by nosrepa • 11 months ago

188 82 11 months ago

theverge.com

AlotOfReading4• 11 months ago

A number of people predicted this in the thread the other day:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44859807

It'll be interesting to see if the situation evolves further.

LastTrain• 11 months ago

Evolves further how? What do you expect might happen next?

AlotOfReading4• 11 months ago

As I said in that thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44860077), seems like a slam-dunk defamation case for Tesla (assuming they want to pursue it) if the whole thing was fabricated.

perihelions2• 11 months ago

And at least 222 people believed it to be true (or else those are some illogical upvotes).

mlok• 11 months ago

An upvote does not mean the user believes the story is true.

ufmace• 11 months ago

Well I see it's flagged for now, and I was one of the flaggers.

IMO, at least by the time I saw it, there were more than enough red flags raised to say that having it on HN before more evidence is available is only flamebait.

amarcheschi• 11 months ago

I'm the one who posted a similar post that wasn't removed. The actions of the ceo in the past would not make this event unreasonable imho

slg7• 11 months ago

It if funny to phrase it like that as if you weren't one of the people in that thread arguing against those skeptical people pointing out issues with the accusations.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44859991

AlotOfReading4• 11 months ago

Anything using Ockham's razor is a statement about what's more likely when you don't know the truth. Those priors were obviously wrong. I also said we'd find out shortly if it was faked, and now we're here.

Do you think I shouldn't update my understanding based on new information?

BSOhealth• 11 months ago

It’s easy to be cynical specifically in this case, when Elon has in the past very gleefully amplified AI fakes to drum up social sentiment

gruez• 11 months ago

I don't get it. Is the implication that Elon/Tesla/X specifically promoted/amplified the post?

apercu• 11 months ago

I infer that the implication is "that's rich coming from Elon/Tesla" because Elon is not honest and amplifies misinformation often?

(not singling Elon out, he's one of many)

babypuncher• 11 months ago

The implication is that Elon is a massive hypocrite for complaining when these dishonest tactics are used against him because he uses them all the time.

vlucas• 11 months ago

Given all the fake Tesla news and seemingly inexhaustible supply of Tesla haters, this was my first thought as well.

testing22321• 11 months ago

One of the richest people in the world has a billion dollar short position on Tesla. You can bet there is enormous might trying everything to rank the stock

cactusplant7374• 11 months ago

Tesla's autonomous driving solution is 10 years overdue and the stock's PE ratio is almost 200. If Gates still has a short position, I am sure he is waiting silently.

shayway• 11 months ago

I'm not sure which is more concerning: how easy it was to fall for it in the first place, or the mental gymnastics some are going through to place the blame outside themselves.

A lie is a lie, it does not matter how plausible it is. "No smoke without fire" is complete bullshit that leaves room only for cascading hatred.

In this case, there's definitive proof of it being a hoax, and news of it seems to be spreading. But how many more subtle falsehoods are being spread, ones that aren't as easily disproven? And how many perfectly plausible lies does it take for a narrative to become self-sustaining?

There is no shortage of real and verifiable things to be outraged about (Tesla-related or otherwise). Don't waste your headspace on anything less.

freetime22• 11 months ago

It really is concerning. I have a friend who went off the rails in the past couple years and is constantly sharing twitter rage bait. When things are proven to be fake news, it doesn't even phase him. It's like reality doesn't even matter, and maximizing outrage is the end goal.

wes-k• 11 months ago

The fact that this deactivation feels possible is still a telling sign of where we’ve been heading. Update fail. Subscription lapsed payment. All sorts of new failure modes.

slg7• 11 months ago

"The lie has value because it feels true" is one of the more disturbing trends I have seen gain traction on the internet in recent years. People are now unironically turning themselves in the Stephen Colbert character from The Colbert Report[1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness

jljljl• 11 months ago

I think it is troubling to say “the lie has value”, but it is worth thinking why certain stories and hoaxes resonate. It’s similar to how sci-fi and horror can reflect the anxieties of their contemporary society

wand3r• 11 months ago

Yeah. I have noticed a disturbing amount of people believe fake stories, tweets, videos, propaganda etc. because it confirms their worldview or is otherwise fun. For example, the amount of people who thought dumb Republicans were dying from eating horse dewormer was way overblown. Or that Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs.

I have adopted an extremely skeptical view of almost all content on the internet now. Fun videos that are staged aren't particularly harmful. Something like "a crazy coincidence or wild prank" made to look real and genuine is not particularly sinister. I personally have briefly put way to much stock in a screenshot of a Tweet from an unattributed anonymous poster alleging X happened. Simply because "it feels true" and confirms my bias. Be careful out there kids!

anonymars2• 11 months ago

How about, "10-15 years ago such a scenario was completely implausible/impossible, and I find it disturbing that it is now completely plausible and possible"?

mauricioc• 11 months ago

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/aaaah

_mlbt2• 11 months ago

It’s funny you bring up Colbert on this topic. His own narrative of why his show was cancelled is a lie that felt true to his fans.

It felt good to martyr him and say that he was cancelled for saying truth to power against President Trump. The truth is that his show was losing $40 million a year and only had traction with viewers that were outside the target advertising demographics.

mensetmanusman• 11 months ago

I see trending interviews that seem fake now. Really curious to see what the Internet looks like in five years.

standardUser• 11 months ago

This is significantly less interesting than any of the dozens of nonsense conspiracy theories Musk repeatedly posts about. Why so much attention?

msgodel• 11 months ago

I frankly have very little sympathy for Tesla here. If you're going to "sell" people a computer and not give them root it's impossible for everyone else to tell if you're screwing around with it like that.

You want to be the admin for everyone else? Well you get the responsibility and emotional demands from everyone else too.

fruitworks• 11 months ago

Damn that would be funny as hell if it was real

taraindara• 11 months ago

Tesla tweeted about the video, saying, “This is fake – that’s not our screen. Tesla does NOT disable vehicles remotely.”

I think the “does not” stands out to me more than “can not”. I’d rather keep my dumb car knowing it can’t be disabled remotely at all without something like an emp.

nailer4• 11 months ago

Ramzan Kadyrov got his hands on a Cybertruck, and it was disabled remotely. Asides from the trade embargo with Russia, Kadyrov also trolled Elon by thanking him personally, Telsa found it and turned it off: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/business/chechnya-kadyrov-mus...

aydyn2• 11 months ago

Dumb cars are like dumb TVs; you arent going to find any on the consumer market. All modern connected cars can be controlled remotely. Ford has even filed patents for remote shutoff for reposession purposes.

Its just how it is.

thegrim33• 11 months ago

The original post made front page of HN for a good while, whereas this correction post was dropped almost immediately to page 3, and now on page 4. This post is/was more recent, with more upvotes, than almost everything currently on the front page, yet it's hidden all the way down on page 4.

porphyra• 11 months ago

Lengthy comment sections full of flame wars, which controversial topics like fake news against Tesla often result in, tend to make the threads less visible on HN.

pfannkuchen2• 11 months ago

Wouldn’t that apply to the original post too?

_mlbt2• 11 months ago

This is why fake news is such an effective propaganda tool.

There are to this day many people who honestly believe untruths because the media repeated lies and half truths loudly, followed by quiet retractions when they got caught.

physicles• 11 months ago

“Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it”

- Jonathan Swift

pfannkuchen2• 11 months ago

This sort of thing has to be illegal, right? Not sure what it’s called, but it’s basically libel against a corporation. Can you just do that and it’s fine? If so I would expect it to happen all the time via competitors hiring agencies to lie in this sort of way, and AFAIK that doesn’t happen broadly, so it seems like something is preventing it, such as it being illegal.

01HNNWZ0MV43FF• 11 months ago

Darn. I really wanted it to be true

That viral video of a 'deactivated' Tesla Cybertruck is a fake

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