Rapper Rick Ross recently stated that he will never ride in a Tesla vehicle. He believes that smart cars could be programmed to transport him to authorities.
In an Instagram post that was shared on Twitter, Ross said, “I’m not going to say I won’t have a smart car, but I’ve never ridden in a Tesla. Never… And the reason being I’ve always had it in the back of my mind the government could tap into the brain of the car.”
The rapper goes on to imagine a scenario where a police officer asks, “Where’s Rick?” before typing something on a keyboard and forcing his Tesla to reroute itself.
‘OK, where’s Rick? He’s over there. Nah, bring him in for questioning.’ [Makes car sounds with mouth]. Nigga, like, where I’m going? It’s leaving WingStop. You pull up to the building and the agent walk out. ‘Hey, Rick.'”
When Ross is challenged on his theory by someone offscreen, Ross quips back: “What, you think it can’t? That bitch self-drives [s]! They got pieces bringing you pieces, robot cars, tacos… so if you get in that [inaudible] it’s gonna lock the door and take you where it wanna go.”
Ross later said he believed Teslas would be able to repossess themselves should their owners miss payments on the vehicles, Consequence of Sound reported.
While Ross may not be spending money on a Tesla, the Clarksdale, Mississippi, native does spend money on other extravagant items, according to Atlanta Black Stars. He just bought a new $1 million fish tank because he could. The Grammy Award-nominated artist frequently trends for his luxurious items.
He also owns a massive estate that is reportedly in the process of becoming his own zoo filled with exotic animals. In May 2022, Rozay purchased two lions that joined his land of cows and buffalos for his “Promise Land” zoo.
In addition to animals and land, Ross also owns nearly 30 Wingstop restaurants around the United States under his Boss Wing Enterprise company. In August 2022, the five Wingstops located in his hometown were fined by the federal Department of Labor for making “their employees illegally pay for uniforms, safety training, background checks, and even cash register shortages,” according to WLOX.com.
Although there is no evidence that police or other government officials considered remote control of Teslas, hackers have discovered security flaws within the vehicles over the years.
In January 2022, Cyber Security Researcher David Colombo gained control of 25 Teslas across the world after finding security bugs in TeslaMate, a popular open-source logging tool that stores sensitive information, including location history, to link to the cars. Colombo documented his findings on Twitter after the bug was fixed and said that although he was able to take control of certain features and start the car, he did not believe it would be possible to move the vehicle remotely.
