Shares in Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and US chipmaker Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) were among the hardest hit in Tuesday’s tech sell-off amid fresh concerns over the future of self-driving cars.
Driverless vehicles have long been seen as the next frontier in science and technology but their potential to redefine an industry has been thrown into doubt in recent weeks.
Fatal Uber crash
On Tuesday, Nvidia – which supplies its chips to autonomous carmakers but also has a fleet of its own driverless cars – became the latest company to temporarily suspend testing on public roads.
The California-based group said it wants to learn more about a fatal crash in Arizona involving an autonomous vehicle developed by ride-hailing giant Uber earlier this month.
According to an unnamed source quoted by CNN, Nvidia’s decision to halt testing was made “out of respect for what happened” rather than because it thinks its technology is unsafe.
A federal probe into the incident, in which a woman was killed whilst walking her bike across the street, is currently underway and Arizona officials said Monday that Uber would be banned from future tests until the investigation is concluded.
Other firms, such as Japanese car giant Toyota, have also scaled back their testing on public roads while they continue to refine their technology.
Tesla car crash and fire
Elon Musk’s Tesla has also been dogged by questions about the safety of its cars after US regulators launched an investigation into a fatal crash involving one of its vehicles last Friday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is examining the fire that occurred after the incident and is looking to determine if the autopilot system had been active.
2 NTSB investigators conducting Field Investigation for fatal March 23, 2018, crash of a Tesla near Mountain View, CA. Unclear if automated control system was active at time of crash. Issues examined include: post-crash fire, steps to make vehicle safe for removal from scene.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) March 27, 2018
Tesla shares sunk by 8% on Tuesday and another 2.3% in pre-market trading on Wednesday to leave the mat US$272.63 – their lowest level for a year.
As for Nvidia, its shares also fell by 8% on Tuesday, but it has recovered some of those losses on Wednesday, with the stock up 1.4% to US$228.968 shortly before the opening bell in New York.