Tesla’s FSD jailbreak crackdown comes with a $15,000 sting and possible prison time
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Some suspects bought ready-made units from Europe and China, and one reportedly plugged a European-made module into his own Tesla. Others skipped the shopping. One suspect, an IT worker, built his device using information he found on GitHub, which suggests the barrier to entry for this kind of modification is lower than it sounds. The group also traded tips online, including how to stop the car from keeping any record that FSD had been activated. Concealing the activation history is likely an attempt to avoid detection by Tesla, which has been looking for these devices itself.
Then there is the legal risk, where prosecutors are using the Motor Vehicle Management Act, which bans unauthorized software changes that could affect vehicle safety. In Korea, the maximum penalty is two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won, or roughly $15,000, a steep price for a driver-assistance feature that many of these owners had already paid for.
South Korea’s transport ministry first flagged suspicious activations to police in April. “Safety risks were confirmed, including the possibility that FSD may fail to properly recognize driving conditions or operate differently from the driver’s intentions,” a police official said then.
Notably, the root of the problem is a certification gap. Tesla began offering FSD (Supervised) in South Korea in late 2025, but only on US-built Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck units, which skip local safety certification under the Korea-US free trade agreement. The Model 3 and Model Y arrive from Giga Shanghai and have yet to pass. Nobody agrees on how many Korean Teslas are eligible, although Carisyou Data Lab figures cited by MK last month indicate 47,458 of 229,311 cars (20.7%).
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/south-korea-clamps-down-on-tesla-drivers-for-unlocking-restricted-fsd-usd15-000-fines-and-prison-possible-sentences-suspects-imported-hardware-from-europe-and-china-then-traded-tips-on-concealing-activation-logs#main
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