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BYD will pay every last cent for any damage caused by its autopilot
BYD's bold move to assume full financial liability for damages caused by its autonomous driving system sets a new standard in the automotive industry, potentially reshaping consumer trust and brand strategy. By offering this guarantee, BYD aims to increase the adoption of its technology and position itself as a leader in autonomous driving, contrasting sharply with Tesla's controversial practices that have eroded consumer confidence. This strategy not only enhances BYD's brand reputation but also encourages greater usage of its AI systems, ultimately feeding back into product improvement.
FastCompany: BYD, the China-based maker of electric vehicles , has done something no automaker has dared to do: It’s promising to pay every bill —repairs, property damage, medical costs—when its God’s Eye autonomous driving system causes an accident. No price ceiling. No fine print. No blame-shifting to the driver. No insurance claim that haunts you for years. Just a review of the car’s system logs, and you get your back covered till every expense derived from the accident has been satisfied.
While this guarantee is currently limited to one year, and is available only in China, it’s still a wow moment that the autonomous driving industry has been waiting for—and dreading, depending on which side of the Pacific you’re parked on. [Image: BYD] Take Tesla, which has spent eight years promising full autonomy. The company sold “Full Self-Driving” as a feature buyers could purchase for up to $15,000 on top of the car’s base price. This came with the promise that over-the-air (OTA) updates would eventually make the car capable of driving itself without any human involvement. It never delivered.
Tesla is facing a potential liability of up to $14.5 billion in lawsuits globally, alleging false advertising, autopilot crash liability, and securities fraud. This could explain why the company has been quietly editing its original purchase agreements—remotely changing “Full Self-Driving” to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised),” language that did not exist when buyers signed and paid.
In many cases, the original contracts are now inaccessible, the links leading to invalid web pages, leaving owners who are seeking refunds for the autonomous driving capability they were promised unable to retrieve the very documents that prove what Tesla originally sold them. Meanwhile, BYD has been covering the actions of its full self-parking feature since July 2025 , in the same way it will do now with its cars driving autonomously in the city.
The first practical test of the policy occurred days after it came into effect: In August 2025, the owner of a Denza Z9GT—a BYD premium sub-brand—was using the autonomous parking feature to enter an underground garage when a small retractable ground lock failed to retract. The system didn’t detect it, and the car’s undercarriage scraped across it. The owner called BYD after-sales in an anxious state, unsure whether the guarantee would hold.
Three BYD staff arrived, pulled the vehicle’s data logs, and delivered an instant verdict: “Nothing to discuss—free repair.” Starting on May 28, BYD has extended the same policy to City Navigation, the God’s Eye 5.0 feature that handles urban route guidance without driver input. The City Navigation guarantee covers 12 months—starting from vehicle delivery for new buyers or from the moment an existing owner installs the qualifying OTA update—unlike the Intelligent Parking guarantee, which runs for the lifetime of the vehicle.
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BYD's decision to take full financial liability for damages caused by its autopilot is a significant shift in the automotive industry that could influence brand strategies and consumer trust, making it highly relevant and impactful.