“Just want to be absolutely clear that everyone’s top priority is achieving an amazing Autopilot demo drive,” Musk said in an email. “Since this is a demo, it is fine to hardcode some of it, since we will backfill with production code later in an OTA update. I will be telling the world that this is what the car *will* be able to do,” Musk continued, “not that it can do this upon receipt.”
Neither Musk nor Tesla has responded to requests for comment.
Musk was so committed to getting the demo video right that he cleared his entire weekend schedule to work with the Autopilot team. He further demanded that team members write a daily log of what they did to contribute to the video’s success, and vowed to read those logs personally. After a fourth version of the video was shared nine days later, Musk offered feedback stating that the footage “needs to feel like one continuous take.”