From a user experience perspective it is exactly the same. The user doesn't have to send their hardware away.
It actually isn't - hence the "filing". Tesla needs to notify people to update their software, even those that don't have wifi or 4G available for updates for whatever reason.
Did it kill people?
Yup
From this article [0] in October of 2023"...Autopilot have been involved in more than 700 crashes, at least 19 of them fatal, since its introduction in 2014..."
With everyone on their phones now while driving, I wonder if cat photos have killed more.
Pretty sure Instagram thots and memes have killed more than Teslas. I'd bet a lot of money on that.
Fortunately, cats usually aren't given control over a steering wheel :)
Tesla software is.
Since autopilot is used on a substantial fraction (one third?) of miles driven by Teslas, this is another way of saying that Teslas are not yet invincible to crashes.
Involvement doesn't mean caused.
Also how many lives has it saved?
Phones hold sensitive datas, banking stuffs. I never heard about recall when a security flaw is fixed on a phone by a software update.