According to the NHTSA[1]:

>A recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle, equipment, car seat, or tire creates an unreasonable safety risk or fails to meet minimum safety standards. Manufacturers are required to fix the problem by repairing it, replacing it, offering a refund, or in rare cases repurchasing the vehicle.

So basically, regardless of whether the fix is a software or hardware update, any issue a car has that "creates an unreasonable safety risk or fails to meet minimum safety standards" falls underneath the "recall" banner. I can see the benefit here; a recall generally gets a certain level of publicity that a "software update" might otherwise not. It might not be a bad idea for people crossing at stop signs to think, "Hmm, Tesla approaching, let's exercise just a bit more caution", until this is resolved.

[1]https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/Recalls-FAQ...

> Tesla will perform an over-the-air software update that disables the "rolling stop" functionality, NHTSA said.

I was perplexed by the wording as well. Apparently software updates can be labeled recalls now? Did someone inform Microsoft, maybe this would help Windows 11 adoption.

"Recall" is the only term available to express a software update via the NHTSA's public notification process. It's just the word we have. And yes, it implies things that are salaciously untrue, which is one of the reason it finds its way into headlines like this.

It is a software update.

It is a software update.