Tesla Says Mobileye Tried to Block Development of Autopilot Feature

Tesla Motors Inc. claims Mobileye NV, which has supplied computer chips and sensor hardware for the carmaker’s Autopilot driver-assist feature, tried to block Tesla’s development of its own vision-based system.

Tesla says it refused to abandon the program, which prompted Mobileye to stop work in July on next-generation systems for the carmaker.

Earlier this month Mobileye’s chairman told Reuters the company’s decision was based on safety concerns over Autopilot, which can accelerate, brake and steer a car automatically under certain conditions.

The controversy stems from a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S electric car that was under Autopilot control. Tesla says the death was the first involving the system.

But the family of a Chinese man blames the feature for his death in a Model S crash in January. Tesla says it so far has been unable to determine whether the system was activated at the time of the crash, in which the car hit the back of a street sweeper vehicle on a highway in Hebei.