A California judge today said that Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk should be questioned under oath over his claims about the company’s autopilot safety, after Musk’s lawyers argued that those comments could be deepfakes.

After crashes in Tesla vehicles where it’s believed the drivers were using autopilot — some of whom died in the accidents — there have been investigations into the company’s claims. For instance, “Full Self-Driving” does not really mean the car can safely drive itself, and even though the company does say that, Musk has been blamed for using language that might have given drivers a false sense of security.

Musk’s lawyers talked about the possibility of deepfake videos in a 2018 case in which an Apple Inc. engineer named Walter Huang crashed while driving a Tesla Model X. The car hit a concrete lane divider at high speed, caught fire and Huang died. This, and other cases, have led to probes by the California Department of Motor and the Department of Justice.

Huang’s family has said that the car was on autopilot at the time it crashed. They contend he was playing a video game on his smartphone only because he had been misled. The family’s lawyer produced a recorded statement allegedly made by Musk in which he claimed, “A Model S and Model X, at this point, can drive autonomously with greater safety than a person. Right now.”

Musk’s lawyers argued that their client shouldn’t have to speak under oath about that statement, saying he was “the subject of many ‘deepfake’ videos and audio recordings that purport to show him saying and doing things he never actually said or did.” Even so, there’s no doubt he said those words at a Tesla event.

Judge Evette Pennypacker didn’t see it that way, calling the request “deeply troubling.” She said that just because Musk is famous, it doesn’t mean he should be immune to making a statement. She added, “In other words, Mr. Musk, and others in his position, can simply say whatever they like in the public domain, then hide behind the potential for their recorded statements being a deep fake to avoid taking ownership of what they did actually say and do.”

Musk will have to give a three-hour deposition about his statement and others like it. The lawsuit will later go to trial on July 31.

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