The Washington PostThe Washington Post

The tech CEO spending millions to stop Elon Musk

By Gerrit De Vynck

13 Nov 2022 · 10 min read

Editor's Note

The Washington Post unpacks the multimillion-dollar campaign to get Tesla’s self-driving software off the roads - before Elon Musk makes the tech available worldwide.

Santa Barbara, California - When Dan O'Dowd had his midlife crisis, he bought two near-identical Tesla Roadsters, the first model the electric carmaker ever produced. This year, the 66 year-old tech entrepreneur added another to his collection: a Model 3 equipped with Full Self-Driving Beta - a software program that allows the car to drive on its own on highways and busy city streets.

The third Tesla is crucial for an unusual hobby: O'Dowd is waging a multimillion-dollar campaign to get Tesla's Full Self-Driving software off the roads - before Tesla CEO Elon Musk follows through with plans to make the tech available worldwide by the end of the year.

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