Videos of what looks like Tesla drivers using the new Apple Vision Pro “spatial computing” headset while in Autopilot mode are going viral, but at least one is staged. After getting over 24 million views on X, 21-year-old Dante Lentini may still face legal repercussions for his stunt.
In an email to PopSci on Monday, Lentini confirmed a video appearing to show him being stopped by police for using Apple’s $3,499 headset behind the wheel of his Tesla was filmed in a “skit-style fashion.” The 25-second clip shows Lentini sitting in the Tesla driver’s seat while traveling on a highway using Autopilot. Instead of keeping his hands on the steering wheel, as Tesla directs all users to do while in Autopilot, Lentini gestures to imply he is using Vision Pro’s interface. (The Apple headset relies on interpreting specific hand movements to navigate and utilize its apps.) The video then cuts to Lentini in a parking lot as a police vehicle flashes its lights behind him.
Think different. #applevisionpro pic.twitter.com/dEALUsntS8
— Dante (@lentinidante) February 2, 2024
“So the police were not even in the parking lot for me to begin with,” Lentini alleges in the email. “I wasn’t pulled over never mind [sic] not being arrested nor ticketed.”
Lentini uploaded his clip to X on February 2, the same day Apple’s Vision Pro headset hit stores, but it wasn’t until this weekend that the post began gaining momentum. Numerous outlets have since covered Lentini’s video, as well as similar content. A different video posted to X on February 3 appears to show another Apple Vision Pro user in the driver’s seat of a Tesla Cybertruck. Like Lentini, the driver makes gestures known to control the headset, implying the $60,990 base price EV is engaged in Autopilot or Full Self-Driving Beta mode. The Cybertruck video has racked up over 17 million views by Monday morning.
In a follow-up email to PopSci, Lentini confirmed he used…
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