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 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 "the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla".

Teslas were spotted early on Sunday in the South Congress neighborhood  with no one in the driver's seat and one person in the passenger seat. The carmaker 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 carmaker 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 (R75.90), Musk said on X.

Tesla investor and social media personality Sawyer Merritt posted videos on X on Sunday afternoon showing him ordering, getting picked up and taking a ride to a nearby bar and restaurant using a Tesla robotaxi app.

If Tesla succeeds with the small deployment, it faces major challenges in delivering on Musk's promises to scale up quickly in Austin and other cities, industry experts said.

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 rests on its ability to deliver robotaxis and humanoid robots, according to many industry analysts. Tesla is by far the world's most valuable carmaker.

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 on September 1, signals state officials from the two US parties want the driverless vehicle industry to proceed cautiously.

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. The governor's office declined to comment.

'Easy to get, easy to lose'

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 recognised 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 and 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 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."

Musk's safety pledges

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 also have other restrictions. Tesla plans to avoid bad weather and difficult intersections and will not carry anyone below age 18.

Commercialising 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 many technologies to read the road, using only cameras. That, Musk said, will be safe and much less expensive than lidar and radar systems added by rivals.