One-sentence summary: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is being criticized for using misleading data practices similar to Tesla’s approach to Autopilot safety statistics, raising concerns about transparency and data manipulation.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), part of his White House advisory role, has come under scrutiny for publishing misleading budget cut figures and then obscuring or deleting details after errors were discovered. Notably, DOGE claimed an $8 billion savings from cutting a contract actually worth $8 million, some of which had already been paid. This approach echoes Tesla’s long-criticized strategy for reporting on its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features, where data is often released without context, inconsistently updated, and difficult for independent researchers to verify.
Experts like transportation researcher Noah Goodall and law professor Bryant Walker Smith note that Tesla has a history of publishing favorable but misleading safety statistics, sometimes retroactively altering them. A key example includes Tesla’s 2018 promotion of a 40% crash reduction statistic after an Autopilot-related death, a figure later discredited due to poor methodology. Researchers argue that Tesla’s data lacks transparency and adequate peer review, unlike rival companies such as Waymo.
Tesla discontinued quarterly safety reports in late 2022 and in 2023 revised its crash data in a way that made comparisons more favorable to Autopilot. Goodall found that new reporting categories were skewed, potentially inflating the crash rate of non-Autopilot driving, thereby making Autopilot appear safer. Despite raising these concerns in a peer-reviewed note, Tesla has not provided further clarification and has remained silent, maintaining its disbanded PR team since 2021.
The article also highlights that Tesla is uniquely opaque even in a generally secretive industry. While other companies submit crash data publicly under a federal rule introduced in 2021, Tesla redacts nearly all details. Researchers like Philip Koopman of Carnegie Mellon call Tesla’s level of secrecy unparalleled. Furthermore, the article points to a growing overlap between Tesla and federal transportation policy, such as the hiring of a former Tesla counsel by the U.S. Department of Transportation, suggesting DOGE may follow the same playbook.
DOGE’s enthusiastic online supporters, Musk’s engagement on X (formerly Twitter), and the administration’s apparent disinterest in correcting inaccuracies compound concerns about accountability. This situation exemplifies how influential figures like Musk can sidestep transparency while shaping public policy and technology narratives.
Marshall, Aarian. “DOGE’s Dodgy Numbers Employ a Tesla Technique.” WIRED, 19 Mar. 2025, www.wired.com/story/doges-dodgy-numbers-employ-a-tesla-technique/.
Key takeaways:
- DOGE falsely claimed to save $8 billion on an $8 million contract and later obscured identifying details on its site.
- Experts see parallels between DOGE’s tactics and Tesla’s long-standing data manipulation regarding Autopilot safety.
- Tesla has released crash data without sufficient context, changed statistics retroactively, and halted transparent reporting.
- Researchers suspect Tesla inflates non-Autopilot crash rates to make Autopilot look safer.
- Tesla redacts nearly all public crash data, unlike other companies complying with federal reporting standards.
- DOGE and Tesla are both supported by Musk’s social media engagement and loyal online communities.
- A former Tesla legal counsel is now working at the U.S. Department of Transportation, raising concerns about policy influence.
Important quotations:
- “That screamed Tesla. You get the feeling they’re not really interested in the truth.” – Noah Goodall
- “Instead of taking it down and acknowledging it, they change the numbers to something that is even weirder and flawed in a more complicated way.” – Noah Goodall
- “No other company is so blatantly opaque about their crash data.” – Philip Koopman
- “I think it engages selectively and opportunistically and does not correct sufficiently.” – Bryant Walker Smith
- “Because people might actually turn it off, and then die.” – Elon Musk on criticism of Autopilot
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