Tesla brings back 'Mad Max' 'Full Self-Driving' mode that ignores speed limits (electrek.co)

Tesla has reintroduced a controversially named “Mad Max” speed profile in its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system via FSD v14.1.2, following last week’s FSD v14 release that added slower “Sloth Mode.” Mad Max is a behavioral tuning option that drives faster and executes more frequent lane changes than the existing “Hurry” profile; early reports and videos show it running stop signs and exceeding speed limits by 15+ mph. The feature echoes an aggressive driving profile first seen in 2018 and is offered for Tesla’s level‑2 ADAS, which the company has repeatedly asserted will reach level‑4 autonomy in the future. Tesla still requires drivers to supervise and be ready to intervene at all times. Technically, Mad Max is a software-level speed/behavior policy inside the FSD stack that trades conservatism for assertiveness—altering target speeds, lane-change thresholds and gap-acceptance parameters. That tuning choice has immediate safety and legal implications: it increases risk in edge-case interactions, could worsen liability exposure amid wrongful-death suits, and invites further NHTSA and state regulatory scrutiny (including an ongoing clash with California DMV over naming). For the AI/ML community, this is a reminder that behavioral policy design and reward objectives in deployed driving models are as consequential as perception and planning accuracy—assertiveness vs. compliance trade-offs affect public safety, regulatory acceptance, and trust in autonomy.