Kubrick’s 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove” presented what seemed an absurdist critique of automation — a doomsday system with an intentional inability to recall bombs once launched, even in the face of an end-of-world mistake.

The film’s “CRM 114 discriminator“, a device preventing any override of these automated systems, was comical because it was invented by a character portrayed as a paranoid conspiracy theorist. The idea was considered too far-fetched to be realistic in the 1960s. Yet here we are, with Tesla normalizing automated override blocks as a valid architectural pattern without any serious security analysis or public scrutiny.

Traditional automakers understood this risk intuitively — they built in mechanical overrides that couldn’t be software-disabled, showing a fundamental grasp of safety principles that Tesla has simply abandoned. In fact, other manufacturers have specifically avoided building centralized control capabilities, not because they couldn’t, but because they recognized the inherent risks — following the same precautionary principle that guided early nuclear power plant designers to build in physical fail-safes. Yet the low-quality high-noise car assembly company has apparently intentionally recreated horrible architectural vulnerabilities at massive scale in civilian infrastructure.

Most disturbing is how Tesla masks these risks through entertainment. The “Light Show” sounds frivolous, much like how early computer viruses were dismissed as harmless pranks rather than serious security threats. But it’s not just an implementation of boring LED audio response code. What it actually demonstrates is a fleet-wide command and control system with no apparent circuit breakers. It promotes a car mindlessly following centrally planned orders without any independent relation to context or consequences. It turns a fleet of 1,000 Tesla into automation warfare concepts reminiscent not just of the Gatling gun or the Chivers machine gun of African colonialism, but the Nazi V-1 rocket program of WWII — another case of automated weapons that couldn’t be recalled once launched.

Finland asleep then:

Finland asleep now:

Threat? What threat? Musk says it’s just a holiday light show.

The timing of propaganda is no accident. Tesla strategically launches these demonstrations during holidays like Christmas, using celebratory moments to normalize dangerous capabilities. It’s reminiscent of the “Peace is our Profession” signs decorating scenes in Dr. Strangelove, using festive imagery to mask dangerous architectural realities.

Tesla’s synchronized light shows, while appearing harmless, demonstrate a concerning architectural pattern: the ability to push synchronized commands to large fleets of connected vehicles with potentially limited or blocked owner override capabilities. What makes this particularly noteworthy is not the feature itself, but what it reveals about the underlying command and control objectives of the controversial political activists leading Tesla. The fact that Tesla owners enthusiastically participate in these demonstrations shows how effectively the security risk has been obscured — it’s a masterclass in introducing dangerous capabilities under the guise of consumer features.

Historical parallels? I’m glad you asked. Let’s talk about the Cuban Missile Crisis and modern risk from a CEO who makes Castro look clean.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, one of humanity’s closest brushes with global nuclear catastrophe, resolution came through human leaders’ ability to step back from automated and algorithmic processes. Khrushchev notably had to manage not just thorny U.S. relations but also rein in unpredictably aggressive independent actors like Mao and Castro. The crisis highlighted the vital importance of maintaining emotional human control over rational automated systems.

As Group Captain Mandrake discovered, having physical override capabilities doesn’t help if the system is designed to ignore them.

Tesla’s ignorant approach to connected vehicle fleets presents a repeat of these long-known and understood risks at an unprecedented scale:

• Centralized Control: A single company led by a political extremist maintains the ability to push synchronized commands to hundreds of thousands of vehicles
• Limited Override: Once certain automated sequences begin, individual owner control may have no bearing regardless of what they see or hear
• Network Effects: The interconnected nature of modern vehicles means system-wide vulnerabilities can cascade rapidly
• Scale of Impact: The sheer number of connected vehicles creates potential for widespread disruption

As General Ripper would say, “We must protect our precious vehicular fluids from contamination.” More seriously…

Now for some obvious recommendations that seem to be lacking from every single article I have ever seen written about Tesla “light show discriminator” demonstrations:

1. Mandate state-level architectural reviews of over-the-air update systems in critical transportation infrastructure. Ensure federal agencies allow state-wide bans of vehicles with design flaws. Look to aviation and nuclear power plant standards, where mandatory human-in-the-loop controls are the norm.
2. Require demonstrable owner override capabilities (disable, reset) for all automated vehicle functions — mechanical, not just software overrides
3. Develop frameworks for assessing systemic risk in connected vehicle networks, drawing on decades of safety-critical systems experience
4. Create standards for fail-safe mechanisms in autonomous vehicle systems that prioritize human control in critical situations

What Kubrick portrayed as satire — automated systems beyond human control — has quietly become architectural reality with Tesla’s rising threats to civilian infrastructure. The security community watches light shows while missing their Dr. Strangelove moment: engineers happily building systems that can’t be stopped once initiated, proving yet again that norms alone won’t prevent the creation of doomsday architectures. The only difference? In 1964, we recognized this as horrifying. In 2024, we’re filming it for social media.

60 years of intelligence thrown out? It’s as if dumb mistakes that end humanity are meant to please wall street, all of us be damned. Observe Tesla propaganda as celebrating the wrong things in the wrong rooms — again.