Tesla Judge Slams ‘Deep Fake’ Detour in Fatal Autopilot Case (1)

A California judge presiding over a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesla Inc. found it “deeply troubling” that the electric-car maker claims videos of Elon Musk touting Autopilot may not actually be real.

Confronted with Tesla’s refusal to rule out that some clips could be digitally altered deep fakes and therefore not suitable as evidence, the judge came up with an elegant solution: Put the billionaire entrepreneur and artificial intelligence enthusiast under oath and have him testify as to which statements coming out of his mouth are authentic.

Thursday’s order by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Evette Pennypacker is a ...