Musk confirms Tesla robotaxi rollout for the public in September
What's the story
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company's robotaxi service will be open for public access next month. The announcement comes after a limited launch of the self-driving taxis in Austin, Texas, eight weeks ago. The initial rollout included only a few Tesla Model Ys driving pre-selected passengers around a restricted area of Austin with a safety monitor on board.
Tech upgrade
Musk hints at upcoming FSD release
Tesla's self-driving taxis operate on the company's Full Self Driving (FSD) software, which is trained by artificial intelligence (AI). The product improves with each new iteration, making the driving experience better. Musk had previously tweeted that an FSD release in about six weeks would result in a "dramatic gain." He added that it is currently undergoing training and testing.
Strategy
Tesla's approach to self-driving taxis
Tesla's self-driving cars use optical cameras and FSD software, unlike Waymo which relies on radar, lidar, and cameras with advanced software. Despite being a smaller player in the self-driving taxi space, Tesla is betting on its simpler and cheaper camera-only tech and manufacturing scale to lead the market. This means any recently manufactured Tesla running the latest FSD software can be turned into a robotaxi.
Future goals
Musk's vision for autonomous ride-hailing
Musk has ambitious plans for Tesla's self-driving cars. He said on Tesla's second-quarter earnings conference call in July, "I think we'll probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half of the population of the US by the end of the year." However, he added that this is subject to regulatory approvals and that they are being very cautious not to take any chances.