Tesla rolls out robotaxis in Texas test

Tesla deployed a small group of self-driving taxis picking up paying passengers on Sunday in Austin, Texas, with CEO Elon Musk announcing the 'robotaxi launch' and social-media influencers posting videos of their first rides.
The event marked the first time Tesla cars without human drivers have carried paying riders, a business that Musk sees as crucial to the electric car maker's financial future.
He called the moment the 'culmination of a decade of hard work' in a post on his social-media platform X and noted that 'the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla.'
Teslas were spotted early Sunday in a neighborhood called South Congress with no one in the driver's seat but one person in the passenger seat. The automaker planned a small trial with about 10 vehicles and front-seat riders acting as 'safety monitors,' though it remained unclear how much control they had over the vehicles.
In recent days, the automaker sent invites to a select group of influencers for a carefully monitored robotaxi trial in a limited zone. The rides are being offered for a flat fee of $4.20, Musk said on X.
Tesla investor and social-media personality Sawyer Merritt posted videos on X Sunday afternoon showing him ordering, getting picked up and taking a ride to a nearby bar and restaurant, Frazier's Long and Low, using a Tesla robotaxi app.
If Tesla succeeds with the small deployment, it still faces major challenges in delivering on Musk's promises to scale up quickly in Austin and other cities, industry experts say.
It could take years or decades for Tesla and self-driving rivals, such as Alphabet's Waymo, to fully develop a robotaxi industry, said Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-engineering professor with expertise in autonomous-vehicle technology.
A successful Austin trial for Tesla, he said, would be 'the end of the beginning – not the beginning of the end.'
Most of Tesla's sky-high stock value now rests on its ability to deliver robotaxis and humanoid robots, according to many industry analysts. Tesla is by far the world's most valuable automaker.
As Tesla's robotaxi-rollout date approached, Texas lawmakers moved to enact autonomous-vehicle rules. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Friday signed legislation requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles.
The law, which takes effect September 1, signals that state officials from both parties want the driverless-vehicle industry to proceed cautiously.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. The governor's office declined to comment.
The law softens the state's previous anti-regulation stance on autonomous vehicles. A 2017 Texas law specifically prohibited cities from regulating self-driving cars.
The new law requires autonomous-vehicle operators to get approval from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles before operating on public streets without a human driver. It gives state authorities the power to revoke permits for operators they deem a public danger.
The law also requires firms to provide information on how first responders can deal with their driverless vehicles in emergency situations.
The law's permit requirements for an 'automated motor vehicle' are not onerous but require firms to attest their vehicles can operate legally and safely.
It defines an automated vehicle as having at least 'Level 4' autonomous-driving capability under a recognized standard, meaning it can operate with no human driver under specified conditions. Level 5 autonomy is the top level and means a car can drive itself anywhere, under any conditions.
Compliance remains far easier than in some states, notably California, which requires submission of vehicle-testing data under state oversight.
Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who focuses on autonomous driving, said it appears any company that meets minimum application requirements will get a Texas permit – but could also lose it if problems arise.
'California permits are hard to get, easy to lose,' he said. 'In Texas, the permit is easy to get and easy to lose.'
The Tesla robotaxi rollout comes after more than a decade of Musk's unfulfilled promises to deliver self-driving Teslas.
Musk has said Tesla would be 'super paranoid' about robotaxi safety in Austin, including operating in limited areas.
The service in Austin will have other restrictions as well. Tesla plans to avoid bad weather, difficult intersections, and will not carry anyone below age 18.
Commercializing autonomous vehicles has been risky and expensive. GM's Cruise was shut down after a serious accident. Regulators are closely watching Tesla and its rivals, Waymo 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, Musk says, will be safe and much less expensive than lidar and radar systems added by rivals.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Business Standard

30 minutes ago

• Business Standard

Republican tax bill to ease rules on gun silencers, some rifles, shotguns

The massive tax and spending cuts package that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of rifles and shotguns, advancing a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill. The guns provision was first requested in the House by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican gun store owner who had initially opposed the larger tax package. The House bill would remove silencers called suppressors by the gun industry from a 1930s law that regulates firearms that are considered the most dangerous, eliminating a $200 tax while removing a layer of background checks. The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled, or sawed-off, rifles and shotguns. Republicans who have long supported the changes, along with the gun industry, say the tax infringes on Second Amendment rights. They say silencers are mostly used by hunters and target shooters for sport. Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn't stand in the way of protecting American gun owners' hearing, said Clyde, who owns two gun stores in Georgia and often wears a pin shaped like an assault rifle on his suit lapel. Democrats are fighting to stop the provision, which was unveiled days after two Minnesota state legislators were shot in their homes, as the bill speeds through the Senate. They argue that loosening regulations on silencers could make it easier for criminals and active shooters to conceal their weapons. Parents don't want silencers on their streets, police don't want silencers on their streets, said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants. Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the climate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation. The bill increased background checks for some buyers under the age of 21, made it easier to take firearms from potentially dangerous people and sent millions of dollars to mental health services in schools. Passed in the summer of 2022, just weeks after the shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, it was the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades. Three years later, as they try to take advantage of their consolidated power in Washington, Republicans are packing as many of their longtime priorities as possible, including the gun legislation, into the massive, wide-ranging bill that Trump has called beautiful." I'm glad the Senate is joining the House to stand up for the Second Amendment and our Constitution, and I will continue to fight for these priorities as the Senate works to pass President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the lead negotiators on the bipartisan gun bill in 2022 but is now facing a primary challenge from the right in his bid for reelection next year. If the gun provisions remain in the larger legislation and it is passed, silencers and the short-barrel rifles and shotguns would lose an extra layer of regulation that they are subject to under the National Firearms Act, passed in the 1930s in response to concerns about mafia violence. They would still be subject to the same regulations that apply to most other guns and that includes possible loopholes that allow some gun buyers to avoid background checks when guns are sold privately or online. Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, says changes are aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argues that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. All it's ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the firearm to hearing safe levels, Keane says. Speaking on the floor before the bill passed the House, Rep. Clyde said the bill restores Second Amendment rights from over 90 years of draconian taxes. Clyde said Johnson included his legislation in the larger bill with the purest of motive. Who asked for it? I asked, said Clyde, who ultimately voted for the bill after the gun silencer provision was added.

Business Standard

30 minutes ago

• Business Standard

EV cost no longer a top concern as Uber drivers worry about charging access

When it comes to convincing millions of drivers to get behind the wheel of electric vehicles, Uber Technologies Inc. has good news and bad news. First, the positive: Prices are coming down to levels at which EV cost is no longer the top issue preventing drivers in the US and UK from going electric. This is a first in the four years Uber has been surveying drivers. The challenge will be tackling the new No. 1 concern — charging difficulties — especially for a company that depends on drivers who typically lack access to home charging. Just over a third of Uber's current EV drivers in the US have a dedicated home charger. The share is even lower in Europe, at 27 per cent in the UK and 13 per cent in the Netherlands. Uber does have an ace up its sleeve in mitigating this issue. Last year, the company hired Rebecca Tinucci, the former head of charging infrastructure at Tesla Inc., to oversee its electrification efforts. Nine months into the job, she's brokered a partnership the company expects will improve charging access for 55,000 drivers in London, Boston and Phoenix, and is rolling out a tool to help 40 cities decide on where to locate their next public plugs. 'We've got to get to work,' Tinucci said in an interview. 'As comfortable as I am in the charging space, I fully recognize how difficult it is to do charging well.' Uber is partnering with London, Boston and Phoenix as part of C40 Cities, a group affiliated with Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. In addition to contributing technical support, research and policy advocacy to those three cities, the company is launching what it calls an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Estimator tool that will project future demand for EV charging from Uber drivers. The company is rolling out the service to cities covering almost 60 per cent of EV drivers on the Uber platform. The tool is more than just in Uber's self-interest. The name of the game for charging-station operators is driving high utilization. Drivers doing pickups and drop-offs around the clock are just the sort of customer operators are looking for. 'There's an incredible base of demand there that we at Uber should be able to rally in support of developing more infrastructure,' Tinucci said. Uber already has seen this play out. Three years ago, the company invested £5 million ($6.73 million) toward installing 700 EV chargers across north and east London. Its chargers in the borough of Newham are being used at more than twice the national average rate. 'The challenge at Tesla was kind of single-focused around Tesla vehicles,' Tinucci said of her previous role. 'What brought me to Uber was the potential for impact. We have the largest EV fleet in the world, and we're just getting started.'

Hans India

2 hours ago

• Hans India

Tesla Rolls Out First Robotaxi Service in Austin with Model Y Fleet

In a major stride toward autonomous transportation, Tesla has officially launched its long-anticipated Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. This limited pilot program introduces a fleet of self-driving Model Y SUVs operating within designated zones of the city, specifically focused on south and central Austin. The launch represents a major milestone for Tesla's vision of driverless mobility. CEO Elon Musk announced the rollout on X (formerly Twitter), praising the team behind the achievement. 'Super congratulations to the @Tesla_AI software & chip design teams on a successful @Robotaxi launch!! Culmination of a decade of hard work. Both the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla,' Musk wrote. Currently, the pilot program includes a modest fleet of 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles. Though designed to operate without a human driver, the initial phase includes onboard safety monitors in the front passenger seat to oversee the ride and ensure passenger security. These rides are available only to a handpicked group of early users — including influencers — who can book trips at a flat rate of $4.20 per ride. Tesla's Robotaxis are geofenced, meaning they operate only within a specific mapped area and avoid more complex traffic zones and adverse weather conditions. The move comes after years of promises and delays related to Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, with Musk consistently pointing to autonomous ride-hailing as a cornerstone of the company's future growth. How to Use the Tesla Robotaxi App: To hail a ride, users must download the Robotaxi app and sign in with their Tesla Account credentials. New users will need to create an account first. Once logged in, passengers can set their destination within the allowed service area. The app displays the estimated fare and arrival time. While waiting, users can modify their destination if needed. When the car arrives, passengers are instructed to match the license plate number shown in the app with the vehicle, buckle up, and tap 'Start' to begin the trip. With this pilot, Tesla edges closer to realizing its autonomous future — albeit carefully and within tightly controlled parameters — as it tests the technology and gathers feedback from real-world use.