Tesla Robotaxi milestone: "True autonomous driving" hits the road in Austin

Tesla has taken a key step in the commercialization of autonomous driving by starting to offer a paid Robotaxi service without safety drivers in Austin, Texas, marking the company's official entry into fully driverless operations.

CEO Elon Musk announced on his social media platform X on Thursday: "Just launched Tesla Robotaxi service in Austin, with no safety supervisor in the car. Congratulations to the Tesla AI team!" This is the first time Tesla has allowed passengers to ride in its autonomous taxis without a human safety driver in the front seat.

According to information posted by passengers on the X platform, Tesla is charging for these driverless rides. There are still follow vehicles monitoring the operation of these driverless vehicles from behind.

Musk took this opportunity to signal to engineers that those interested in "solving real-world AI problems" should join the Tesla AI team, which "could lead to AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)."

Progressive Deployment Strategy

Tesla AI head Ashok Elluswamy stated that the company will adopt a progressive deployment approach. "We will start with a small number of unsupervised vehicles, operating in a mixed fleet with a broader Robotaxi fleet that has safety supervisors, and over time, the proportion of unsupervised vehicles will gradually increase."

Tesla launched its Robotaxi service in Austin last June, initially using a limited deployment model with safety supervisors in the front passenger seat. The initial test riders were mainly influencers and selected customers. In December of last year, Tesla began testing Robotaxis without front seat safety supervisors in Austin in preparation for this formal commercial operation.

This deployment strategy differs from some competitors. Tesla's rivals, such as Zoox and Waymo, did not immediately start charging when initially deploying driverless services. Tesla's choice to implement a paid model from the outset demonstrates its confidence in the maturity of the technology and its intention to accelerate commercialization