Tesla to begin driverless Robotaxi rides in Austin within three weeks

Elon Musk has formally outlined Tesla’s plan to launch a fully autonomous Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in three weeks. According to the company chief, the vehicles will navigate the city entirely on their own, without safety drivers overseeing passengers or traffic.

He had previously said the company intended to debut a driverless service by the end of the year; this update tightens the timeline and adds needed specificity to the rollout.

Today, Tesla’s safety staff still ride inside Robotaxi vehicles as onboard attendants when the cars carry passengers on city streets, and they take control on highways to provide an extra layer of protection. Stepping away from that model would create a clear separation from driver-dependent ride-hailing operations like Uber and Lyft, signaling a bid to define a different kind of service.

Tesla has not yet shared how large the autonomous fleet will be or the exact schedule for a full commercial launch. Even without firm figures, the move reads as a pivotal step for autonomous mobility and suggests the company is ready to shift from pilot testing to genuine commercial deployment. If the timing holds, Austin could become an especially telling proving ground for how this technology handles everyday traffic.