Tesla is now deploying a small fleet of its Robotaxi vehicles in Austin, Texas, operating without human drivers or safety monitors on board, according to statements made by CEO Elon Musk. This development marks a significant step in the company’s pursuit of autonomous ride-hailing services.
“Just started Tesla Robotaxi drives in Austin with no safety monitor in the car,” Musk announced via the social media platform X. “Congrats to the @Tesla_AI team!”
Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s vice president of software, elaborated in a separate post that this initial phase in Austin involves a limited number of unsupervised vehicles integrated within the larger robotaxi fleet that is still equipped with safety monitors. He indicated that the proportion of driverless to supervised vehicles will gradually increase in this market.
The announcement comes as Tesla shares saw a 4.2% uptick on Thursday, closing at $449.36.
Despite this progress, Tesla continues to trail behind several competitors who have already established commercial robotaxi services operating without human oversight. Alphabet’s Waymo currently dominates the U.S. market, while Baidu’s Apollo Go leads in China, facing competition from W eRide. Other players, such as Amazon’s Zoox, are also conducting limited driverless operations in the U.S., with startups like May Mobility and Nuro actively developing their autonomous solutions.
Musk had previously projected an ambitious timeline, stating in July that Tesla would likely have “autonomous ride hailing in probably half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year.” The company ultimately fell short of this target. However, Tesla generated considerable interest with the launch of its Robotaxi ride-hailing app and its initial services in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.
In Texas, Tesla secured a permit to operate as a transportation networking company, enabling the deployment of vehicles with “automated driving systems.” In contrast, California has yet to grant Tesla the necessary permits for driverless testing or robotaxi operations without a human safety driver.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Musk expressed his conviction that self-driving technology is “essentially a solved problem at this point” and anticipates widespread adoption of Tesla’s Robotaxi service across the U.S. by the close of the current year. However, Musk has a history of not meeting his self-imposed deadlines for technological and business milestones. In 2019, he confidently predicted that Tesla vehicles would be capable of functioning as robotaxis via a software update by the end of the following year.
With declining electric vehicle sales, Tesla’s ability to maintain investor confidence may increasingly depend on its success in scaling its driverless ride-hailing service in the U.S. this year and upgrading its partially automated driving systems to full autonomy. Currently, its premium system is marketed as FSD (Supervised), with plans to introduce an FSD Unsupervised system in the future.
Consumer sentiment regarding autonomous vehicles remains mixed. Surveys from the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report indicated that a majority of U.S. consumers polled late last year expressed reluctance to ride in robotaxis, citing safety concerns.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank recently noted that they foresee “muted underlying volume growth” for Tesla and fellow EV maker Rivian this year, with the narrative being driven by “autonomy and physical AI.” They further stated, “Tesla will have to prove out FSD unsupervised and the scaling up of robotaxi (which in our view has been clearly tracking behind schedule) before garnering incremental valuation credit.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Regulatory scrutiny has also been a factor. Late last year, California regulators concluded that Tesla had engaged in deceptive marketing and false advertising concerning its vehicles’ driverless capabilities. Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is actively investigating Tesla to ascertain the frequency with which its FSD systems may have been implicated in traffic safety violations. Data compiled from NHTSA, legal filings, and press reports indicates that 65 individuals have died in Tesla crashes involving Autopilot, with two of those fatalities occurring when the company’s FSD systems were engaged in the moments leading up to the incident.
Tesla is slated to report its fourth-quarter financial results on Wednesday.
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