A May 2026 Reuters investigation made a genuine, fair criticism: Tesla's headline safety numbers rely on a debatable methodology. Tesla compares airbag-deployment crashes in Autopilot-equipped cars against a broad federal crash rate that includes less-severe, tow-only incidents, and against an older average US vehicle — comparisons most researchers Reuters consulted called misleading. Tesla also doesn't publish the underlying data or peer-reviewed studies, a legitimate transparency gap. But "fabricated" overstates it. Reuters did not show Tesla invented numbers; the dispute is about apples-to-oranges comparisons and transparency, not fraud. Autopilot is also used disproportionately on highways — the safest roads — which cuts both ways. The honest takeaway: Tesla's marketing framing is contestable and it should release raw data; that is different from proof of fabrication.