Tesla $TSLA is getting ready to bring its robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area, as CEO Elon Musk doubles down on a future built around driverless cars and humanoid robots rather than just electric vehicles.
Tesla is ramping up its robotaxi rollout even as regulators investigate its small-scale launch in Austin
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Image
Tesla $TSLA is getting ready to bring its robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area, as CEO Elon Musk doubles down on a future built around driverless cars and humanoid robots rather than just electric vehicles.
Musk announced on X $TWTR that Tesla could launch its robotaxi service in California’s tech hub “probably in a month or two,” assuming the company clears regulatory hurdles. The move comes after Tesla previewed the service last month to a small group of shareholders and supporters in Austin, Texas — with human backup drivers in tow. This weekend, Tesla plans to expand its Austin service area.
Investors seemed to like the idea. Tesla shares jumped as much as 4.1% on Thursday morning before settling up around 2.5%, though the stock is still down 25% this year.
The push into robotaxis is part of Musk’s broader effort to refocus Tesla around futuristic projects as its core EV business slows. That said, Musk has a history of setting ambitious timelines for autonomous driving that the company typically misses.
Tesla has been laying the groundwork for a California rollout for a while. It applied late last year for a transportation permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, Bloomberg reported earlier this year, and told the state DMV it would start with pre-arranged rides for employees using safety drivers.
There are still plenty of hurdles ahead. U.S. auto safety regulators are already looking into Tesla’s robotaxi program after reports that vehicles in Austin were violating traffic laws on their very first day.
Right now, the Texas program only involves a few Model Y vehicles. But Musk says Tesla plans to scale up to a thousand cars within a few months and eventually introduce a futuristic “Cybercab” with no pedals or steering wheel.
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