Musk confirms Tesla Robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas by end of June
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company will begin testing its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, by the end of June, with an initial fleet of around 10 vehicles.
Speaking in a CNBC interview at Tesla's headquarters in Austin, Musk said the pilot programme will mark the official debut of Tesla's fully autonomous ride-hailing service.
If successful, the service will scale rapidly, with up to 1,000 vehicles expected on the road within a few months.
'It's prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well, and then scale it up,' Musk stated.
Tesla's robotaxi service will initially operate using Model Y vehicles equipped with the latest version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, referred to as "FSD Unsupervised."
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla's Robotaxi service, powered by FSD Unsupervised, is set to launch on June 1st!
Just 31 days to go! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/gVmJplQ0to — Teslasti Basti (@BastianBraun121) May 1, 2025
The company plans to geofence the operation — restricting movement to specific zones within Austin — while eliminating human safety drivers.
Tesla employees will remotely monitor the fleet to ensure safety and performance.
Musk said plans are in motion to expand the service to Los Angeles and San Francisco following the Austin rollout, pending a smooth initial phase.
Since 2016, Musk has pledged that Tesla was on the verge of deploying self-driving cars.
However, Tesla vehicles currently still require driver supervision and have not yet received regulatory approval for fully autonomous operation without human intervention.
Musk reiterated Tesla's distinctive approach to autonomy, relying solely on AI, cameras, and digital neural networks — unlike competitors such as Alphabet's Waymo, which employs lidar and radar-based systems.
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla's Robotaxi service, powered by FSD Unsupervised, is set to launch on June 1st!
Just 31 days to go! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/gVmJplQ0to — Teslasti Basti (@BastianBraun121) May 1, 2025
'What will actually work best for the road system is artificial intelligence, digital neural nets and cameras,' he said.
Waymo currently leads the market with 250,000 paid driverless trips per week in multiple US cities.
Addressing recent challenges, including a 20% decline in Tesla's automotive revenue in Q1 2025, Musk attributed the slump to factory retooling ahead of a refreshed Model Y launch.
He claimed a strong rebound in demand is already underway.
Musk also confirmed his commitment to leading Tesla for at least the next five years, despite his growing political involvement and roles at SpaceX and AI startup xAI.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
ChatGPT mocks Elon Musk as Grok sides with Sam Altman amid rising AI feud
Tensions between tech giants Elon Musk and Sam Altman continue to escalate as OpenAI's ChatGPT appeared to take a swipe at Musk's AI chatbot Grok, further fueling the public AI rivalry. The conflict intensified after Musk criticized Apple, accusing the company of unfairly promoting OpenAI's apps over others in the App Store. He called it 'an unequivocal antitrust violation' and threatened legal action through his AI company, xAI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly hit back, calling Musk's claims 'remarkable' and accusing him of manipulating the X platform — formerly Twitter — to serve his own business interests. Altman challenged Musk to sign an affidavit denying any involvement in algorithm changes meant to disadvantage competitors or promote his own content. 'I will apologize if so,' Altman said in response to Musk's claim. This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like. — Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025 Musk, in turn, called Altman a 'liar' and noted that his rebuttal tweet had reached three million views, despite his relatively smaller follower count compared to Altman. Amid the heated back-and-forth, a user on X asked Musk's own chatbot, Grok, who was in the right — and Grok sided with Altman. The chatbot responded that Altman's arguments were more credible, citing the continued visibility of rival AI apps like DeepSeek and Perplexity in the App Store. It also referenced reports from 2023 alleging Musk had manipulated X's algorithm to promote his posts, concluding with 'Hypocrisy noted.' Adding fuel to the fire, the official ChatGPT account on X reposted Grok's response with the comment, 'good bot,' seemingly mocking Musk. In response, Musk shared a screenshot of himself querying ChatGPT directly: 'Who is more trustworthy, Sam Altman or Elon Musk?' The chatbot replied, 'Elon Musk.' Meanwhile, Apple denied Musk's antitrust accusations, stating that the App Store's recommendation systems are driven by 'objective criteria' and designed to ensure fairness and opportunity for all developers.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
Musk's xAI to sue Apple over alleged App Store antitrust violations
Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. PHOTO: ٖ FILE Listen to article Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple accusing the iPhone maker of breaching antitrust regulations in managing App Store rankings. "Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action," Musk said in a post on his social media platform X. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI that integrates ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads and Macs. Musk did not provide evidence to support his claim. Apple, OpenAI, and xAI did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Read More: Apple rolls out iOS 26 beta 6 with new features OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to Musk on Monday. "This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like," he said on X. OpenAI's ChatGPT currently holds the top spot in the App Store's "Top Free Apps" section in the U.S., while xAI's Grok ranks fifth. Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2025 "Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your 'Must Have' section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics?," Musk said in an earlier post on Monday. Users on X - through the community notes feature - have pointed out that a few apps besides OpenAI have taken the top spot on the App Store this year. Also Read: Tesla to streamline its AI chip design work, Musk says Chinese AI app DeepSeek reached the No.1 spot on the platform in January, while in July, Perplexity took first place in India's App Store - both occurring after the OpenAI and Apple partnership struck last year. Musk's comments come as regulators and rivals intensify scrutiny of Apple's control over its App Store. Earlier this year, Apple was ordered to pay a fine of 500 million euros ($581.15 million) by the EU antitrust enforcer, which said the company's restrictions prevented developers from steering users outside the App Store.
Business Recorder
4 days ago
- Business Recorder
US, China extend tariff truce by 90 days, staving off surge in duties
WASHINGTON/BEIJING: The United States and China on Monday extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods as U.S. retailers get ready to ramp up inventories ahead of the critical end-of-year holiday season. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had signed an executive order suspending the imposition of higher tariffs until 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT) on November 10, with all other elements of the truce to remain in place. China's Commerce Ministry issued a parallel pause on extra tariffs early on Tuesday, also postponing for 90 days the addition of U.S. firms it had targeted in April to trade and investment restriction lists. 'The United States continues to have discussions with the PRC to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship and our resulting national and economic security concerns,' Trump's executive order stated, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China. 'Through these discussions, the PRC continues to take significant steps toward remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements and addressing the concerns of the United States relating to economic and national security matters.' The tariff truce between Beijing and Washington had been due to expire on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT). The extension until early November buys crucial time for the seasonal autumn surge of imports for the Christmas season, including electronics, apparel and toys at lower tariff rates. The new order prevents U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods from shooting up to 145%, while Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods were set to hit 125% - rates that would have resulted in a virtual trade embargo between the two countries. It locks in place - at least for now - a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, with Chinese duties on U.S. imports at 10%. 'We'll see what happens,' Trump told a news conference earlier on Monday, highlighting what he called his good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China said the extension was 'a measure to further implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their June 5 call,' and would provide stability to the global economy. China says hopes US will strive for 'positive' trade outcomes Trump told CNBC last week that the U.S. and China were getting very close to a trade agreement and he would meet with Xi before the end of the year if a deal was struck. 'It's positive news,' said Wendy Cutler, a former senior U.S. trade official who is now a vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 'Combined with some of the de-escalatory steps both the United States and China have taken in recent weeks, it demonstrated that both sides are trying to see if they can reach some kind of a deal that would lay the groundwork for a Xi-Trump meeting this fall.' Trade 'detente' continued The two sides in May announced a truce in their trade dispute after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, agreeing to a 90-day period to allow further talks. They met again in Stockholm, Sweden, in late July, and U.S. negotiators returned to Washington with a recommendation that Trump extend the deadline. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said repeatedly that the triple-digit import duties both sides slapped on each other's goods in the spring were untenable and had essentially imposed a trade embargo between the world's two largest economies. 'It wouldn't be a Trump-style negotiation if it didn't go right down to the wire,' said Kelly Ann Shaw, a senior White House trade official during Trump's first term and now with law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. She said Trump had likely pressed China for further concessions before agreeing to the extension. Trump pushed for additional concessions on Sunday, urging China to quadruple its soybean purchases, although analysts questioned the feasibility of any such deal. Trump did not repeat the demand on Monday. 'The whole reason for the 90-day pause in the first place was to lay the groundwork for broader negotiations and there's been a lot of noise about everything from soybeans to export controls to excess capacity over the weekend,' Shaw said. Ryan Majerus, a former U.S. trade official now with the King & Spalding law firm, said the news would give both sides more time to work through longstanding trade concerns. Oil gains as US-China tariff pause extension boosts trade hopes 'This will undoubtedly lower anxiety on both sides as talks continue, and as the U.S. and China work toward a framework deal in the fall,' he said. Imports from China early this year had surged to beat Trump's tariffs, but dropped steeply in June, Commerce Department data showed last week. The U.S. trade deficit with China tumbled by roughly a third in June to $9.5 billion, its narrowest since February 2004. Over five consecutive months of declines, the U.S. trade gap with China has narrowed by $22.2 billion - a 70% reduction from a year earlier. Washington has also been pressing Beijing to stop buying Russian oil to pressure Moscow over its war in Ukraine, with Trump threatening to impose secondary tariffs on China.
