Tesla tiptoes into long-promised robotaxi service
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -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 X.com 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.
Fans have welcomed the caution and the long-awaited arrival. Qazi said on X, Tesla was launching "extremely cautiously, which is good."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
XRP Rebounds From Intraday Lows, Forms Bullish Pattern Above Key Support
XRP has rebounded sharply after a turbulent session that saw prices drop over 6% in a single day. Following a swift sell-off to $2.011 during the 21:00 hour, the asset stabilized and staged a recovery, forming a bullish ascending channel and holding support above the $2.04 level. Traders are now watching closely as XRP builds upward pressure near the $2.09 resistance line. Market sentiment remains fragile as global economic uncertainty continues to weigh on risk assets. Trade tensions and policy shifts among major economies have pressured the broader crypto landscape, triggering liquidations and profit-taking across key tokens. Despite the volatility, XRP's on-chain and technical metrics have held firm. The token continues to benefit from institutional narratives surrounding a potential spot ETF approval and Ripple's global payments expansion. Analysts are focused on XRP's ability to establish a new higher low, which could set the stage for a breakout if resistance at $2.09 is breached with volume confirmation. XRP posted a 6.33% range over the last 24 hours, sliding from $2.147 to $2.011 during a sharp sell-off centered around the 21:00 hour. Volume during that period spiked to over 163 million units, confirming intense downward pressure. The asset then recovered steadily, forming a higher low at $2.042 before pushing up to $2.083. In the final hour, XRP climbed from $2.078 to $2.089, marking the session's high on a strong 1.38M volume burst at 06:20. This price action has formed a short-term ascending channel, with higher lows observed at $2.079, $2.082, and $2.083. XRP posted a 6.33% trading range from $2.147 to $2.011. Heaviest selling occurred at 21:00 with over 163M in volume. Higher low formed at $2.042; recovery to $2.083 suggests buyer control returning. Resistance now sits at $2.089–$2.090; support range firm at $2.011–$2.042. Final hour saw price jump to $2.089 on 1.38M volume at 06:20. Short-term ascending channel confirmed with sequential higher lows. Buyers consistently defended $2.082–$2.083 on minor pullbacks, signaling accumulation. MACD crossing into positive territory; RSI neutral at ~54 — conditions favor a continuation if resistance is cleared. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Could Bitcoin Actually Hit $200,000 Before 2026?
Bitcoin could nearly double $200,000 before the end of this year. It will still be a good investment if it misses that mark. Institutional investors are the ones driving its pricing for the moment. 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin › Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) trades for about $105,000 (as of June 19), yet credible analysts are mapping a route to its price surpassing $200,000 by the end of 2025. For reference, a 90% price gain to $200,000 would raise Bitcoin's market cap to about $3.9 trillion. That target looks unduly aggressive only if you ignore two simple forces: a sharply lower trickle of new coins, and a sharply higher amount of institutional demand. Both are already affecting the coin's price right now. Let's see what the numbers actually say and take a moment to understand why the forecast for $200,000 isn't unreasonable at all. As always, understanding the supply and demand dynamics of Bitcoin is the first step to appreciating how responsive its price is likely to be relative to what buyers are bidding for it. Every four years, the Bitcoin network halves the block reward, cutting the flow of fresh coins. The most recent halving on April 20, 2024, reduced the reward such that the total annual new issuance declined from roughly 328,500 coins to about 164,000. With 19.9 million coins already mined out of a maximum of 21 million possible, new supply now grows less than 0.8% per year. In April 2028, the next halving will constrain supply even further, and that fact is something that most market participants are aware of already, implying that potential buyers have a significant incentive to procure their allocation sooner rather than later. The tiny drip of new supply today is already meeting a hungry horde of demand. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hauled in more than $46 billion cumulatively, including a six-day streak of $1.8 billion in mid-June. Those funds, institutional investors, and publicly traded companies together now command about 6% of the coin's total circulating supply. At today's price, that capital removes roughly 360,000 coins from the public float, which is equivalent to more than two years of issuance at the current block reward. If the inflows simply persist at half their recent pace, the available supply could tighten by another 2% to 3% before 2026. And a shrinking float usually forces prices significantly higher because the number of willing sellers dries up faster than the number of willing buyers. In other words, crypto market euphoria is not a precondition to Bitcoin soaring. The only needed ingredient is buyers who are willing to convert fiat currencies into ETF shares just a bit faster than miners are capable of creating fresh coins. And right now, that speed differential is widening, so the conditions are ripe for the price to squeeze upward. While supply dynamics explain why the crypto's price can rise, macro tailwinds explain why demand might keep accelerating. On that front, U.S. core inflation cooled in May to its lowest reading since 2023. The Federal Reserve has held its benchmark interest rate steady since March; many investors are expecting that the Fed will cut rates a bit before next year. It's possible that lower real yields will make a scarce, non-yielding asset like Bitcoin more attractive. Separately, regulatory clarity is also improving abroad, which will create more institutional buyers. The European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework began licensing major exchanges in mid-June, opening a harmonized 27-nation market. Clear guidelines for competition reduce regulatory risk and invite European pension funds and other institutional investors to buy in, many of which had waited on the sidelines. Nonetheless, the path to $200,000 is not necessarily a straight shot, given the current geopolitical and economic instability, as well as major uncertainties in U.S. trade policy. A surprise liquidity crunch, perhaps sparked by a geopolitical shock or a renewed tariff-driven inflation spike, could dull risk appetite and force some selling, which could temporarily damage sentiment about the coin. Political risk matters, too. U.S. lawmakers still debate crypto taxation and custody rules. A hostile bill could freeze ETF creation or raise costs, muting demand. Assuming no severe shock, however, the chances of Bitcoin surpassing $200,000 in 2026 look realistic, if perhaps a bit ambitious. If ETFs absorb another $50 billion of the supply by late 2025, they would remove roughly 475,000 additional coins from circulation at an average cost basis of $105,000. The good news for investors here is that it doesn't really matter if Bitcoin passes an arbitrary price target before an arbitrary point in time. Since the biggest upside for holders is over the long term, not the near term, the smartest move here is simply to buy the coin and commit to holding it. Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $664,089!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $881,731!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 994% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Could Bitcoin Actually Hit $200,000 Before 2026? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
ETH Drops 8% in Flash Crash, Recovers After Buyers Step In
Ether (ETH) ETH experienced a sharp flash crash during the 21:00 hour on June 21, falling 7.56% from $2,406 to $2,224, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model. The sudden price drop triggered heavy trading activity, with more than 751,000 ETH changing hands—nearly five times the average hourly volume. Despite the steep decline, buyer interest surged around the $2,250 level, helping the asset recover to $2,292. During the hour following the crash, ETH rose 0.19% from $2,287.54 to $2,291.92. A volume spike at 05:58 accompanied a 3.15% price jump on 7,314 ETH, establishing a new support zone near $2,290. The price action that followed formed an ascending channel with higher lows, signaling increased buyer engagement as conditions stabilized. Technical Analysis Highlights ETH dropped 7.56% from $2,406 to $2,224 during the 21:00 hour on June 21. Trading volume spiked to over 751,000 ETH, nearly five times the typical hourly average. At 05:58, ETH surged 3.15% from $2,283.94 to $2,291.09 on 7,314 ETH volume. Price action formed an ascending channel with higher lows after the crash. A new support zone formed around $2,290, with resistance testing at $2,297 between 06:17 and 06:20. Volume remained elevated during the recovery, indicating improved liquidity. Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
