Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) fired about 30 members of the Nationwide Freeway and Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) in February, and lots of of them have been a part of a division that assesses the dangers of self-driving vehicles, according to the Financial Times.
One employee laid off from the NHTSA’s so-called “workplace of auto automation security” informed the FT that DOGE’s actions may “weaken NHTSA’s capacity to know self-driving applied sciences.” One other employee stated it’d be “ironic” if the firings would decelerate Tesla’s plans for autonomous autos.
The firings additionally got here simply months after the NHTSA launched a brand new framework that might ease regulation on self-driving vehicles, however in alternate, corporations would want to share extra information with the regulator.