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

131 nosrepa 80 8/12/2025, 2:12:24 PM theverge.com ↗

Comments (80)

AlotOfReading · 2h 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.

perihelions · 1h ago
And at least 222 people believed it to be true (or else those are some illogical upvotes).
general1726 · 33m ago
Because it is on-brand with Musk behavior. If for example somebody would write that Mercedes bricked a car to an influencer, people would be skeptical because that would not be how Mercedes usually operates.
schmidp · 15m ago
hmm, remember when Mercedes tried to fake how well their emergency assistance works and had their mics still on?
aydyn · 25m ago
"Yeah I fell for the bait, but that says a lot about my political enemies"

Come on, you'd get laughed out of any other serious forum.

seanw444 · 17m ago
This is Hacker News. There are some hive mind positions you just don't question. It's starting to feel like Reddit with a tech lean.
natch · 27m ago
More like it's on brand with the fantastic delusions people have about Musk. In reality Tesla and Musk are very good about privacy and leaving control with the user. But, you do you.
scottbez1 · 9m ago
This statement "Tesla and Musk are very good about privacy and leaving control with the user" is pretty clearly false [1]:

> between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla employees privately shared via an internal messaging system sometimes highly invasive videos and images recorded by customers’ car cameras, according to interviews by Reuters with nine former employees.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sens...

general1726 · 10m ago
Like spying people on internal cameras and then sharing it?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sens...

gamblor956 · 17m ago
Reminded of all those times that Musk had Tesla release crash details on X pinning the blame on the driver when it was in Tesla's interest to shift the blame for crashes. Yep, great commitment to privacy there.

You know what automakers don't do that? Literally every other automaker. When they release those kinds of details, they do so in response to a court proceeding as part of the legal discovery process so that privacy concerns, etc. can be dealt with before the information is released.

mlok · 1h ago
An upvote does not mean the user believes the story is true.
ameliaquining · 1h ago
I read the thread when it had something like 50 comments, and most of them were treating it as either confirmed or at least potentially true, and using it as an opportunity to rail against corporate abuse in full generality, just like every HN thread about a negative story about a tech company. It was only later that the skeptical comments started to rise to the top.
motorest · 18m ago
> I read the thread when it had something like 50 comments, and most of them were treating it as either confirmed or at least potentially true (...)

I think you're trying to fabricate an alternative version of reality while being aware that the facts (i.e., the actual posts in the thread) are not on your side.

zahlman · 1h ago
Many of the people who suspected the story to be a fake were... not very well received in that thread, at least at first.
nailer · 1h ago
Since HN is manually unflagging political posts, and not enforcing the 'uses HN for political advocacy' guideline the site is generally more combatative and there's a lot more hoaxes and conspiracy theories on the front page.
gonzobonzo · 50m ago
I've noticed this as well. It feels more and more like Reddit everyday.
thebruce87m · 1h ago
Exactly - they might have something to gain by convincing others it is true for example.
kimbernator · 1h ago
There are non-nefarious reasons, too. If someone is unsure whether something is real they could upvote it to increase visibility and discussion.
perihelions · 1h ago
Then they are illogically boosting a hoax on purpose, or at least with reckless disregard for truth.
pengaru · 14m ago
If your goal is to burn down tesla/musk, you logically promote everything remotely damaging.

And there are plenty rational reasons to have that goal.

dkiebd · 8m ago
It’s funny that I just read the thread on rationalism and then come back to this one and someone posted this flawed nonsense.
vpribish · 1h ago
Or not engaging enough to come to any conclusion - just chuckle - upvote. Useful, but not idiots nor villains
zahlman · 1h ago
Just because you don't consciously believe something to be true, doesn't mean you don't care about its veracity. The null hypothesis is that people are willing to treat things as true based on their priors — which could be informed by things as simple as "this was posted on a website not known as a den of misinformation, and shared on HN" — while not actually devoting thought to an investigation of the truth.
nailer · 1h ago
> "this was posted on a website not known as a den of misinformation, and shared on HN"

I don't know whether you mean Threads or Bluesky but it sounds like you haven't used either.

natch · 21m ago
Yeah I have peeked into both and have never seen such a strident collection of vituperation, misinformation, and hatred. For people who claim to have left Twitter due to supposed toxicity, they definitely seem unacquainted with mirrors.
username332211 · 1h ago
Or they want knowledge of the hoax to spread, so as to protect the victim against further lies?
LastTrain · 1h ago
Evolves further how? What do you expect might happen next?
AlotOfReading · 1h 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.
aaronbaugher · 3m ago
Nothing new under the sun. Remember when NBC admitted to rigging a truck to burst into flames in a crash for Dateline, because it wouldn't do it on its own? Or when a jury found that Consumer Reports lied about how easily an Isuzu pickup rolled over on turns?

But hey, the media probably wouldn't lie these days, and Musk bad man.

amarcheschi · 1h 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
BSOhealth · 1h 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 · 1h ago
I don't get it. Is the implication that Elon/Tesla/X specifically promoted/amplified the post?
apercu · 1h 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)

No comments yet

babypuncher · 1h 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.
anonymars · 1h ago
"couldn't have happened to a nicer guy"
vlucas · 1h ago
Given all the fake Tesla news and seemingly inexhaustible supply of Tesla haters, this was my first thought as well.
shayway · 7m 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.

testing22321 · 1h 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 · 53m 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.
LightBug1 · 19m ago
The company of a CEO - well known for lying, running software that enables deepfakes, and just all around douchebaggery - has one its product hit with a fake image ...

Oh ... how terrible ...

philipallstar · 2h ago
> Despite these issues, the video went viral on BlueSky, X, and Reddit — and likely will continue to travel far and wide, confirming many people’s prior opinions about Tesla and Elon Musk.

There's no confirmation bias on BlueSky. No sir.

ameliaquining · 1h ago
HN also fell for the video at first, so let's not throw stones here.
nailer · 1h ago
Let's criticise HN too. It was fake, it was a fairly obvious fake, and HN should have known better.
angrysaki · 2h ago
How horrible that their confirmation bias is that bad people are bad, and that the future is a dystopian world where you don't own what you paid for...
Levitz · 2h ago
It's hilarious how that's pretty much true, only you have to define "bad" as "ideologically different" and you're set. Anyone disagreeing with the userbase in any contentious topic, well, they are just evil, that's all.,
aplummer · 1h ago
You don’t have to define “bad” after the second nazi salute.

No comments yet

bitwize · 1h ago
The current situation in the USA is that we're dealing with milquetoast liberals on one side and a party led by a full-blown authoritarian autocrat (with whom Musk has aligned) on the other. This is no mere ideological difference. This is a struggle against evil.
philipallstar · 2m ago
The milquetoast liberals keep destroying property, hitting people with wrenches, and getting people fired for not using the "correct" pronouns.
avgDev · 1h ago
When you step away from the internet things are much better. Internet is a toxic place.
Levitz · 1h ago
Surely there are more than two stances that can be had on issues?

Plus I still remember that time a certain journalist entered the platform and people completely lost their shit, making up pedophilia allegations, demanding him to be banned, publishing the location of his residence and instigating violence against him.

Was this a "struggle against evil"?

enslavedrobot · 2h ago
Or maybe it's not. Maybe you only think that's true and see everything through that lense.
snickerdoodle12 · 1h ago
Crazy that people don't like a confirmed Nazi, huh?
jadamson · 59m ago
It is possible to dislike (or even hate) someone, without allowing yourself to be exploited. Apart from anything else, you are giving ammunition to the other side by doing so.
FergusArgyll · 39m ago
I can see why you fell for this hoax...
JKCalhoun · 2h ago
Telling though, isn't it? I mean the degree to which this is so instantly believable.

(And "X" was called out to, FWIW.)

All car manufacturers should be paying attention.

ryandrake · 2h ago
Fakes become believable when they are on-brand and match people's existing expectations, in this case about a company. I would totally expect petty, retaliatory behavior from a company run by a petty, retaliatory guy. So a forgery totally bypasses my usual "bullshit detector". This is a human weakness that a lot of people, admittedly including myself, are vulnerable to.
anonymars · 1h ago
Precisely. If it had been a Honda or a Ford would folks have found it as plausible?
philipallstar · 2h ago
> Telling though, isn't it? I mean the degree to which this is so instantly believable.

It's telling on the users in question and their relationship with reality.

arp242 · 1h ago
You're ignoring the "X" and "Reddit" and focusing purely on Bluesky. Your post here is a good example of confirmation bias in itself, and it's sad that you're not realising it.
Swizec · 2h ago
> It's telling on the users in question and their relationship with reality.

It’s telling to Tesla’s brand reputation. This will take decades and billions of dollars to repair, if it even can be fixed.

Tesla may become synonymous with cars-as-internet-of-shit. Same as how Italian cars to this day are the butt of every reliability joke. This reputation has followed them since the 90’s. British cars are synonymous with cheap construction – a reputation they built in the 70’s.

Stuff like this can be forever.

jadamson · 1h ago
The question is why certain people found believable in the first place. "May become synonymous" implies they're not already, in which case this instance wouldn't be believable.

In reality, people who believed this probably think Elon is a petty tyrant and don't like his politics. I agree with them, especially on the first point. The difference is that they either allow this to overwhelm their critical thinking skills, or never had any to begin with.

Swizec · 1h ago
> why certain people found believable in the first place

Because Tesla’s brand perception is that of a shady company who would do something like this and nobody would be surprised. How they built that reputation I don’t know, lots of little things over the years.

zeendo · 1h ago
You mean X users, right?
andrewflnr · 28m ago
We didn't need a fake incident to "tell" us about Tesla's reputation. We already knew that. It's "telling" us zero bits of new information.
dkiebd · 2h ago
Tired of car manufacturers doing politics, and this goes for all of them. Well, for all companies. Just make goods and shut up, dammit.
andsoitis · 2h ago
Both customers and employees put pressure on companies to take sides on particular issues.

I can see the rationale behind it but it has very dysfunctional and unhealthy outcomes.

XorNot · 1h ago
Other then Tesla which car companies are doing politics beyond the usual "donate to both sides" thing?

Tesla, due to Musk, is an absolute outlier here.

dkiebd · 26m ago
Gaywashing and greenwashing for example.
cm2012 · 2h ago
You are doing the thing from the comic! https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/aaaah
XorNot · 1h ago
There's something of a difference between the abstract presentation there and the much more tangible brand problem Tesla has. If this was a Ford nobody would believe it. They might argue it broke down. If it was a Toyota nobody would believe that.

But Elon Musk has made himself the face of Tesla, used that power in other contexts to go after critics, and the Cybertruck had a bizarre anti resale clause when released and Tesla have made a habit of features-as-a-service with remote software deactivations when other vehicles are resold.

So in the specific case here, the reaction very much represents a big brand sentiment problem attributable to concrete issues.

ameliaquining · 1h ago
There's kind of a fine line between "that this went viral shows that Tesla has a brand problem" (a logically valid argument) and "that I found this believable shows that Tesla is bad" (what the comic is about). The top-level comment did not go super-far out of its way to distinguish between the two, which I think is generally worth doing if you're making an argument that sounds similar to a common fallacy.
afthonos · 1h ago
What an interesting way of thinking.

More seriously, the correct reaction to a fake is to adjust towards whatever the fake is moving your away from. If the fake wants you to believe Tesla is a company that will brick your car while driving — adjust towards it being more likely that they won’t, because if it were, there would be no need to fake it.

Saying instead “huh, I guess my priors were right all along because of how many people believed it” is…yeah, an interesting way of thinking.

potato3732842 · 2h ago
Believable to who?

Surely there were a bunch of automotive engineers on Reddit getting downvoted to oblivion for suggesting that this doesn't pass a sniff test because it arguably violates subsection 69 of FMVSS 420 or that they don't need to do that because industry standard is to just prevent the car from starting next time, or whatever.

IncreasePosts · 1h ago
Except it wasn't instantly believable. Which is why there were a large number of comments on the previous thread (including my own) saying this was almost certainly fake.