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California DMV Finds Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Marketing Misleading

The California DMV adopted an administrative finding that Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability marketing was misleading, then said Tesla’s California terminology changes avoided threatened license suspensions.
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California’s Department of Motor Vehicles adopted an administrative decision finding Tesla’s marketing of “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” misleading. It was an agency action adopting an administrative law judge’s proposed decision—not a court judgment. Tesla later stopped using “Autopilot” in California marketing, avoiding the threatened license suspensions, and filed a court challenge to the DMV order.

What the California DMV decided

On December 16, 2025, the California DMV adopted the findings in an administrative law judge’s proposed decision in cases 21-02188 and 21-02189. The agency found Tesla had misleadingly used the terms “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” for advanced driver-assistance features (ADAS). The decision concerned Tesla’s manufacturer and dealer licenses in California; it was not a jury verdict or a court ruling. California DMV, Dec. 16, 2025

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The DMV said Tesla’s written marketing, primarily on its website, had used the challenged terms beginning in May 2021. It also cited a claim that “The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.” That is wording the DMV said appeared in Tesla marketing, not a description of what the vehicles can safely do.

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The agency said vehicles with the advertised ADAS features could not operate autonomously when the marketing ran and could not do so at the time of its decision. That is the DMV’s finding about the systems addressed in this proceeding; it should not be mistaken for a claim that a court made a technical finding.

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How the proposed penalties changed

The DMV’s final action differed from the ALJ’s proposed penalties. After the ALJ issued a proposed decision on November 20, 2025, the DMV adopted the findings but modified the consequences on December 16.

Stage Penalty or requirement
ALJ proposed decision, Nov. 20, 2025 Proposed 30-day suspensions of Tesla’s manufacturer and dealer licenses.
DMV adopted decision, Dec. 16, 2025 Permanently stayed the manufacturer-license suspension and gave Tesla 60 days to address “Autopilot”; failure to do so would trigger a 30-day dealer-license suspension.

The hearing before the ALJ took place July 21–25, 2025. The DMV filed accusations against Tesla’s manufacturer and dealer licenses in November 2023. California DMV, Dec. 16, 2025

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Why Tesla did not face the threatened suspensions

In February 2026, the DMV said Tesla had stopped using “Autopilot” in California marketing, satisfying the corrective action and avoiding the 30-day dealer and manufacturer license suspensions. The agency also said Tesla had changed its other term to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised).” California DMV, February 2026 Associated Press, Feb. 18, 2026

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This was a change in California marketing terminology and compliance with the DMV’s corrective action. It was not a finding that the features had become autonomous or that the DMV had withdrawn its conclusion about the earlier marketing.

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Tesla’s challenge is separate from the DMV decision

In February 2026, Tesla filed a verified petition seeking to set aside the DMV order and requesting administrative mandamus, declaratory relief and injunctive relief. Tesla argued that the agency’s order was unsupported and legally flawed, including that the DMV did not present consumer witnesses, the record did not establish actual consumer confusion, and disclosures about driver supervision were provided. Those are Tesla’s positions in its petition, not conclusions reached by a court. The filing itself did not reverse the DMV order. Tesla verified petition, February 2026

A separate federal consumer class-action appeal concerns class certification, not the DMV’s administrative licensing case. Tesla’s June 30, 2026 Form 10-Q said the Ninth Circuit had scheduled oral argument for August 31, 2026; the filing does not establish what happened at that later argument. Tesla Form 10-Q, quarter ended June 30, 2026

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What the decision means for drivers

The ruling addressed whether Tesla’s names and marketing claims were misleading under California law, not whether a particular driver was deceived or whether a specific crash was caused by the features. For the systems covered by the proceeding, the DMV said they could not operate as autonomous vehicles. Tesla’s later California use of “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” likewise signals that the feature name should not be read as permission to let the car drive without an attentive human driver.

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For context, the ALJ was reported as explaining that the DMV’s authority to regulate vehicle advertising did not depend on proof that particular advertising had actually deceived or harmed someone. TechCrunch, Dec. 16, 2025

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