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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The law, which takes effect September 1, signals that state officials from both parties want the driverless-vehicle industry to proceed cautiously.
“EASY TO GET, EASY TO LOSE”
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’s permit requirements for an “automated motor vehicle” are not onerous but require firms to attest their vehicles can operate legally and safely.
Compliance remains far easier than in some states, notably California, which requires submission of vehicle-testing data under state oversight.
“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.
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.
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.
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