Tesla is now offering passengers robotaxi rides in Austin without a human safety driver in the front seat. CEO Elon Musk announced the development on Thursday via his social media platform, congratulating the Tesla AI team on the milestone. In his post, he also extended a recruitment pitch for engineers interested in solving real-world artificial intelligence problems, suggesting this work could likely lead to artificial general intelligence.
The automaker first launched its robotaxi service in Austin last June. That initial, limited deployment included a safety operator present in the front passenger seat, with rides offered first to influencers and select customers. By December, Tesla had progressed to testing these vehicles without a safety driver in the front seat, a precaution traditionally in place for human intervention.
However, not all vehicles in Tesla’s Austin fleet will be fully driverless immediately. According to the company’s AI lead, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla will begin with a small number of unsupervised vehicles operating within the larger robotaxi fleet that still has safety monitors. The proportion of unsupervised vehicles is expected to increase over time.
It remains unclear whether these new driverless rides are free or if Tesla is charging a fare. This mirrors the approach of some rivals, like Zoox and Waymo, which also did not charge for initial driverless ride deployments. Requests for clarification from Tesla have been made.