Musk touts driverless Tesla test ahead of Austin robotaxi launch

Tesla Inc. executives including Elon Musk promoted a video of one of the company’s vehicles driving in Austin with nobody behind the wheel, hinting that it’s close to launching its robotaxi service in the Texas capital.

A black Model Y emblazoned with “robotaxi” on its front door turned off South Congress Avenue in a touristy area of the city in the video, which was posted to Musk’s social media platform X. Musk shared the video on his X account, as did Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s Autopilot teams and recently took over responsibility for the company’s Optimus humanoid robot program.

Although neither Musk nor Tesla has specified a precise launch date, Bloomberg has reported that Tesla aims to begin operating its robotaxi network on Thursday. The company has been testing self-driving Model Y SUVs that will be used in the operation’s initial phase. Model Ys with manufacturer plates and a person behind the wheel have been spotted driving around parts of Austin, including South Congress.

The vehicles are expected to use an “unsupervised” version of Tesla’s suite of driver-assist systems known as Full Self-Driving. In a separate X post, Musk said the vehicle in the video was running on a new version of software.

Musk has staked the future of his electric-vehicle company on robotics, autonomy and artificial intelligence. He’s said the robotaxi launch in Austin will start small, with as few as 10 to 20 vehicles, before growing over time. It’s unclear who will be the first users of the robotaxi service, what app will be used or how much rides will cost.

Carlson writes for Bloomberg.