Popular YouTuber and former NASA engineer Mark Rober released a video that showed a self-driving Tesla car drive itself through a wall painted to look like a road, splitting mainstream media on the verity of the experiment.

The Details: In the video, which promotes Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology and Rober's company that sells products that use it, Rober tests LiDAR technology at Disney World to map its Space Mountain ride and then in a self-driving car by the company Luminar. Rober tests Elon Musk’s Tesla car, which is equipped with cameras, against Luminar’s LiDAR-equipped car in six trials that gauge the car’s ability to stop in different circumstances. Rober said he was not paid by Luminar.

‘Wile E. Coyote Wall’: In the final trial, Rober measures the car’s ability to stop itself from driving through a “Wile E. Coyote” style wall, that is painted to look like a road. The Tesla – which lost six to three – drove through the wall, while the LiDAR-equipped car stopped before hitting it.

Mainstream Media Coverage: Several mainstream outlets covered Rober’s findings at face value, including Newsweek (Center bias), The Verge (Lean Left), and Business Insider (Lean Left), framing the experiment as a failure for Tesla.

Mainstream Pushback: Other mainstream outlets have published critical coverage. An opinion published in Forbes (Center) said Rober’s effort is “almost entirely wasted” because “he uses an un-named version of Tesla’s ‘Autopilot’ system, which is its older freeway driver-assist tool.” The New York Post (Lean Right) highlighted online criticisms of Rober that noted inconsistencies in his video, such as claiming he’s using a Google Pixel to film, though it appears to be an iPhone, and that later published “raw footage” showed different speeds of the car, meaning Rober could have conducted multiple takes of the test. Bloomberg (Lean Left) noted that Luminar’s stock “soared” 29% immediately following Rober’s video.

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