Tesla has started offering Robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, without safety monitors in some vehicles. The company confirmed the move on Thursday, marking a milestone in its autonomous vehicle ambitions. However, the service remains limited in scope and faces regulatory hurdles in other regions.
Immediate Action & Core Facts
1. Tesla begins unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Austin. CEO Elon Musk announced on Thursday that a small number of Tesla Robotaxis are now operating in Austin without a human safety monitor on board. The company has been testing supervised autonomous rides in the city since June 2025.
2. Tesla lags behind competitors in commercial robotaxi deployment. While Tesla expands its unsupervised trials, rivals like Alphabet’s Waymo and Baidu’s Apollo Go already operate widespread driverless services in the U.S. and China, respectively.
Deeper Dive & Context
Regulatory and Market Landscape
Tesla obtained a permit in Texas to operate as a transportation networking company, allowing it to deploy driverless vehicles. However, in California, the company has yet to secure permits for fully autonomous testing or robotaxi services without a human driver ready to intervene.
Musk previously claimed Tesla would achieve autonomous ride-hailing in half the U.S. by the end of 2025, a target the company missed. Despite this, Tesla launched a Robotaxi ride-hailing app and expanded services to Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Competitive and Technical Context
Tesla’s vice president of software, Ashok Elluswamy, stated that the Austin Robotaxi fleet includes a mix of unsupervised and supervised vehicles. The company plans to gradually increase the ratio of driverless vehicles over time.
Other companies, including Amazon’s Zoox, May Mobility, and Nuro, are also developing or operating driverless services. Waymo leads the U.S. market, while Baidu’s Apollo Go dominates in China, with competition from WeRide.
Musk’s Vision and Challenges
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Musk asserted that self-driving technology is “essentially a solved problem” and predicted Tesla’s Robotaxi service would become “very widespread” by the end of 2026. However, the company’s progress has been slower than promised, with years of delays in delivering fully autonomous vehicles.
Tesla’s Robotaxi service in San Francisco still includes human safety monitors, indicating that full autonomy remains a work in progress.