2019 AI Hype Countdown #1: Tesla's Robotaxis--Tales of a Phantom Fleet

The number one AI hype story this year had to be Tesla's robotaxi fleet. While other autonomous vehicle companies are dialing back their claims of near-future glory, Tesla has been pushing the propaganda volume up to an ear-splitting 11. Tesla has been touting its cars' "self-driving" abilities since 2016. At the end of last year, after selling "self-driving" vaporware for several years as an add-on feature, it looked like the company was going to take the responsible approach and stop selling the feature. They pulled the option from their web site, and basically stopped talking about it.