8 hours ago
Tesla's robotaxi rollout kicks off 'next phase' of self-driving
Tesla (TSLA) is expected to roll out robotaxis in Austin, Texas over the weekend. Envorso vice president of data, analytics, and AI Ken Johnston joins Morning Brief to discuss what the launch event means for Tesla.
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Tesla's RoboTaxis are scheduled to roll out in Austin, Texas this weekend, and this after the launch was postponed from earlier this month, with Musk saying that they were being quote super paranoid about safety. Joining me now we've got Ken Johnson, who's the Eorso vice president of data analytics and AI. Great to have you here with us this morning. What are you expecting from this launch?
Thanks for having me, Brad. Uh, this launch really, in my opinion, is the bold announcement on the next phase of uh the self self defined vehicle. And what I would say there is Tesla's approach is really around data and them entering the auto taxi is just the next step for them because they have over 2 million self-driving vehicles on the roads already. So their strategy is about collecting more data, which we know for AI really drives the AI engine, and that gives them a real advantage, and one that I think will ultimately win out over uh the competition.
You know, we've heard from Elon Musk this year on earnings calls even at the beginning of the year in Q1 talking about this being a pivotal year for Tesla and specifically talking about some of the major launches that they have, especially with RoboTaxi being one of those launches and and of course it's pivot to this narrative of Tesla as an AI does this sit as a core driver for Tesla's business going forward and and how much should the thinking from the investors standpoint be changed dramatically given what they've endured for the past several years with Tesla really prioritizing automobiles.
Well, that's a great question, Brad, because we've seen Tesla stock take a bit of a hit recently, but they really have positioned themselves to be a technology company. I used to work at Microsoft and then at Ford Motor Company, and, you know, their, their, uh, charging technology is now becoming standard for both Ford and GM. That's because they had the better other OEMs are struggling with their platforms for software defined vehicles. There's a chance for Tesla to have that technology picked up as well. Technology, or Tesla is already a technology company, they're just wrapped in a, in a car company. And because of where they're going with the auto taxis, it's giving them an advantage with the data pipeline that they need to be successful in this particular space. So they're really well positioned, and, you know, I'm actually pretty excited about the future of their stock.
