Tesla to roll out robotaxis in overdue step toward Musk dream
The launch of a driverless taxi service on June 22 is set to begin modestly, with a handful of vehicles in limited areas of the city. PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK – Tesla is rolling out its first robotaxis on the streets of Austin, Texas, after almost a decade of hype from Mr Elon Musk, kicking off a precarious new era for the carmaker.
The launch of a driverless taxi service on June 22 is set to begin modestly, with a handful of vehicles in limited areas of the city. Tesla hand-picked initial riders who are expected to offer feedback on the experience, so the general public will still have to wait.
The low-key rollout has nonetheless been highly anticipated by investors, who are counting on the new business line to revive a company battered by flagging sales and a consumer backlash against Mr Musk. The Tesla chief executive is betting the company's future on autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and humanoid robots – buzzy but still largely unproven markets.
'This is the first true test,' Mr Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, said in an interview. 'Anything that happens will be amplified, especially the negative. There's a lot at stake.'
Tesla has ramped up testing recently in the Texas state capital, where Model Y SUVs with manufacturer plates have been spotted regularly in the south and southeast portions of the city. Mr Musk recently promoted a video on social media of one of its vehicles driving in Austin with nobody behind the wheel.
Some details of the launch emerged in recent days after several social-media users – known for promoting Tesla – revealed that they were selected for early access to a new robotaxi app and the ride-hailing service.
According to the use parameters posted by one account, robotaxis will be available between 6 a.m. and midnight every day within unspecified geofenced areas of the city, not including the airport. The service may be limited or unavailable in foul weather. A 'safety monitor' will be sitting in the front passenger seat for rides during the early access period.
Mr Musk has said Tesla would initially roll out 10 to 20 vehicles before expanding to a thousand within a few months, and later introducing a purpose-built Cybercab with no pedals or steering wheel.
The CEO has a history of overpromising in the area of autonomy. After hinting at the possibility of an autonomous-car service in a business plan in 2016, he said three years later that Tesla customers would be able to utilize their vehicles as robotaxis by 2020.
Tesla has long offered a system called Full Self Driving that, despite the name, requires continual driver supervision and doesn't make vehicles autonomous. The company has said it will operate its robotaxi network using an 'unsupervised' version of the software that will not require a human driver to monitor.
Safety is a crucial factor in driverless car operations. Incidents that injure or kill people can bring regulatory crackdowns and negative attention to companies. Cruise, the now-defunct autonomy business of General Motors Co., grounded its fleet in late 2023 and had its operating license suspended in California following an accident that injured a pedestrian.
Uber Technologies Inc. ceased testing self-driving vehicles after one of its SUVs struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona in 2018. Less than three years later, the company agreed to sell its self-driving business.
Austin has become a hot spot for autonomous vehicle operations. Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., is scaling up in the city through a partnership with Uber. Amazon.com Inc.'s Zoox is also testing there.
In Texas, Tesla faces few restrictions to operate autonomous vehicles. Driverless vehicles are required to be equipped with cameras, have insurance and follow traffic rules. A rideshare license in not currently required.
At the federal level, authorities are taking steps to ease the deployment of autonomous vehicles without driver controls like steering wheels or pedals. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this month that it will streamline the process to get an exemption for such vehicles, which under current policy has resulted in lengthy processing times that can last years. BLOOMBERG
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
UK was informed ahead of US-Iran strike, no request for help-minister
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo LONDON - Britain did not receive a U.S. request for its Diego Garcia base to be used in the U.S. strikes on Iran, but it was informed ahead of the attack, senior minister Jonathan Reynolds said on Sunday. Reynolds said Britain had moved military assets to the region and would take "all action necessary" to defend its key allies if they came under threat. He added that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was talking to allies on Sunday. "No request was made," the business and trade minister told Sky News. "I know often because of British military assets, RAF Akrotiri (in Cyprus) or Diego Garcia, sometimes that request is made. And this was not a situation where that request was made". Reynolds added that Britain had been informed of the strike. "I can't tell you exactly when we did know, but we were informed, as you might expect," he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Tesla tiptoes into long-promised robotaxi service
SAN FRANCISCO :Elon Musk's vision of Tesla's future is set for a public test on Sunday, when a dozen or so self-driving cars in Austin, Texas start a limited, paid robotaxi service. Though Tesla is dispensing with a webcast product launch event helmed by Musk, fans will be scouring the internet for videos and reports from the coterie of invited riders that will be allowed to hail the small stable of Model Y SUVs for trips within a limited area of the city, accompanied by a Tesla safety monitor in the front passenger seat. The driver's seat will be empty. "Wow. We are going to ride in driverless Teslas in just a few days. On public roads," posted Omar Qazi, an user with 635,200 followers who writes often about Tesla using the handle @WholeMarsBlog and received an invite. The service in Austin will have other restrictions as well. Tesla plans to avoid bad weather, difficult intersections, and won't take anyone below the age of 18. Musk has said he is ready to delay the start for safety reasons, if needed. Tesla is worth more than most of its biggest rivals combined, and Musk has said that is supported by the company's future ability to create robotaxis and humanoid robots. For years, he has promised self-driving cars were just around the corner. Commercializing autonomous vehicles has been risky and expensive. GM's Cruise was shut down after a fatal accident and regulators are closely watching Tesla and its rivals, Alphabet's Waymo, which runs a paid robotaxi service in several U.S. cities, and Amazon's Zoox. Tesla is also bucking the young industry's standard practice of relying on multiple technologies to read the road, using only cameras. That, says Musk, will be safe and much less expensive than lidar and radar systems added by rivals. Nonetheless, Musk says he is being "super paranoid about safety" with the rollout. "So far, this launch lags significantly behind the company's promise and what competitors have already delivered," said technology researcher Forrester's principal analyst Paul Miller.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Tesla to roll out robotaxis in overdue step towards Musk dream
Tesla is rolling out its first robotaxis on the streets of Austin after almost a decade of hype from Elon Musk, kicking off a precarious new era for the carmaker. The launch of a driverless taxi service on Sunday (Jun 22) is set to begin modestly, with a handful of vehicles in limited areas of the city. Tesla hand-picked initial riders who are expected to offer feedback on the experience, so the general public will still have to wait. The low-key rollout has nonetheless been highly anticipated by investors, who are counting on the new business line to revive a company battered by flagging sales and a consumer backlash against Musk. The Tesla chief executive officer is betting the company's future on autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and humanoid robots – buzzy but still largely unproven markets. 'This is the first true test,' Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, said in an interview. 'Anything that happens will be amplified, especially the negative. There's a lot at stake.' Tesla has ramped up testing recently in the Texas state capital, where Model Y SUVs with manufacturer plates have been spotted regularly in the south and south-east portions of the city. Musk recently promoted a video on social media of one of its vehicles driving in Austin with nobody behind the wheel. Some details of the launch emerged in recent days after several social-media users – known for promoting Tesla – revealed that they were selected for early access to a new robotaxi app and the ride-hailing service. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up According to the use parameters posted by one account, robotaxis will be available between 6 am and midnight every day within unspecified geofenced areas of the city, not including the airport. The service may be limited or unavailable in foul weather. A 'safety monitor' will be sitting in the front passenger seat for rides during the early access period. Musk has said Tesla would initially roll out 10 to 20 vehicles before expanding to a thousand within a few months, and later introducing a purpose-built Cybercab with no pedals or steering wheel. The CEO has a history of overpromising in the area of autonomy. After hinting at the possibility of an autonomous-car service in a business plan in 2016, he said three years later that Tesla customers would be able to utilise their vehicles as robotaxis by 2020. Tesla has long offered a system called Full Self Driving that, despite the name, requires continual driver supervision and doesn't make vehicles autonomous. The company has said it will operate its robotaxi network using an 'unsupervised' version of the software that will not require a human driver to monitor. Safety is a crucial factor in driverless car operations. Incidents that injure or kill people can bring regulatory crackdowns and negative attention to companies. Cruise, the now-defunct autonomy business of General Motors, grounded its fleet in late 2023 and had its operating licence suspended in California following an accident that injured a pedestrian. Uber Technologies ceased testing self-driving vehicles after one of its SUVs struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona in 2018. Less than three years later, the company agreed to sell its self-driving business. Austin has become a hot spot for autonomous vehicle operations. Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, is scaling up in the city through a partnership with Uber. Zoox is also testing there. In Texas, Tesla faces few restrictions to operate autonomous vehicles. Driverless vehicles are required to be equipped with cameras, have insurance and follow traffic rules. A rideshare licence in not currently required. At the federal level, authorities are taking steps to ease the deployment of autonomous vehicles without driver controls such as steering wheels or pedals. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this month that it will streamline the process to get an exemption for such vehicles, which under current policy has resulted in lengthy processing times that can last years. BLOOMBERG
