Musk confirms Tesla Robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas by end of June
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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.
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