FILE: Tesla CEO Elon Musk drives the Tesla Model S at the car's unveiling in Hawthorne, Calif., on March 26, 2009. A California billionaire is responsible for the ad attacking Tesla's self-driving software that is running during the Super Bowl.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty ImagesA California tech billionaire is behind the eye-catching Tesla attack ad running during the Super Bowl.
The Dawn Project, founded by Dan O’Dowd, bought ad time in multiple markets across the U.S., including Sacramento; Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; and Atlanta. The 30-second spot allegedly shows Tesla’s controversial “Full Self-Driving” software. The tech, which has been released to 400,000 users in North America, allows cars to navigate city and residential streets without human input. There are currently multiple National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigations into whether Tesla’s self-driving technology played a role in crashes, including an eight-vehicle crash on the Bay Bridge in January. Surveillance footage of the crash showed the Tesla braking suddenly.
The Super Bowl ad shows a Tesla allegedly using Full Self-Driving technology drive past a school bus letting off children, blow past a road with closure signs and slam into two mannequins representing children crossing the road. In the clips where the mannequins are struck, however, the footage is shot from the exterior, and it’s impossible to see if the Tesla is in self-driving mode.
It’s not clear where the ad was filmed, although the Dawn Project’s previous anti-Tesla spots were filmed in Rosamond, California, an unincorporated area near the border between Kern and Los Angeles counties, and Santa Barbara. Tesla sent the Dawn Project a cease-and-desist letter in August 2022 for “disseminating defamatory information to the public regarding the capabilities of Tesla’s Full Self Driving (FSD) (Beta) technology.”
The cease-and-desist hasn’t stopped O’Dowd, who only appears to be ramping up public attacks on Elon Musk’s automotive empire.
“Tesla’s reckless deployment of Full Self-Driving software on public roads is a major threat to public safety,” O’Dowd said in a statement. “Elon Musk has released software that will run down children in school crosswalks, swerve into oncoming traffic and hit a baby in a stroller to all Tesla owners in North America.”
O’Dowd founded Green Hills Software in 1982, a private company that bills itself as a “worldwide leader in embedded safety and security.” He also ran an unsuccessful campaign last year to represent California in the U.S. Senate; he got about 75,000 votes in the June 2022 primary, trailing far behind winner and fellow Democrat Alex Padilla.
Dan O'Dowd, founder of the Dawn Project, is seen in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2022. O'Dowd is behind the Super Bowl ad attacking Tesla's self-driving technology.
Jonas Jungblut for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesO’Dowd told the Washington Post this week that he hopes the Dawn Project ad will place more pressure on politicians to bar Full Self-Driving technology until it is tested further.
“Tesla doesn’t advertise its cars in the traditional way, so the Super Bowl ad could reach people who don’t already have a strong idea of what the company is,” the Post reported.