Tesla is preparing to launch its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on June 22, as confirmed by CEO Elon Musk on social media this week. The announcement represents a critical milestone in Tesla's strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology.
The Austin robotaxi service will initially deploy with a small fleet of about 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles equipped with a new "unsupervised" version of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology. Musk indicated the service will be geofenced to operate only in specific areas of Austin deemed safest, with remote monitoring by Tesla staff.
"We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift," Musk cautioned on his X social platform. He also revealed that the first Tesla vehicle to drive itself from the factory to a customer's home is scheduled for June 28.
The robotaxi launch comes at a pivotal moment for Tesla, which has experienced significant financial challenges. In the first quarter of 2025, the company's revenue fell by 9% compared to the previous year, while profits plummeted by 71%. European sales have been particularly affected, with declines of up to 81% in some markets.
Musk is betting Tesla's future on autonomous vehicles at a time when other major automakers have retreated from the space. General Motors shut down its Cruise robotaxi unit in December 2024 after investing more than $10 billion, citing "the considerable time and resources needed" and "an increasingly competitive robotaxi market." Ford similarly abandoned its Argo AI autonomous vehicle venture in 2022.
Safety concerns remain a significant hurdle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched several investigations into Tesla's FSD technology, including a fatal accident where a car using the feature struck and killed a pedestrian. Critics point to Tesla's camera-only approach to obstacle detection as potentially problematic compared to competitors like Waymo, which use more sophisticated lidar and radar systems.