Tesla's Robotaxi Trial Set for Austin Launch Amid AI Advancements and Regulatory Scrutiny

Tesla on Track to Launch Robotaxi Trial in Texas by June End

Tesla is in talks with major automakers to license the FSD software Tesla is set to begin a test of its long-promised robotaxi service on schedule in Austin, Texas, by the end of June, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday, even as the company faces safety questions from a US regulator. The electric vehicle maker will roll out about 10 self-driving cars in some parts of the city, and scale up to about a thousand within a few months, Musk told CNBC in an interview. "We are actually going to deploy not to the entire Austin region, but only the parts that are the safest." Tesla sales have fallen worldwide with rising competition and as Musk faces a backlash for his right-wing political views and his work for US President Donald Trump. Musk has said he will reduce his work for Trump and focus on Tesla. "My rough plan on the White House is to be there for a couple days, every few weeks, and to be helpful where I can be helpful," he said. A successful robotaxi trial is crucial for Tesla as Musk has shifted the company's focus away from building a new, cheaper EV platform to launching the robotaxi service and its Optimus humanoid robots. Much of Tesla's valuation hangs on that bet. "The only things that matter in the long term are autonomy and Optimus," Musk told CNBC. Autonomous vehicle technology has been hard to commercialise, with tight regulations and heavy investments forcing many companies to give up. Those still in the race, including Alphabet's Waymo, have faced increased scrutiny. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating collisions involving Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) advanced driver assistance software in reduced roadway visibility conditions since October. The US road safety regulator asked Tesla last week to answer questions on its paid robotaxi service launch to assess how the cars will perform in poor weather. Tesla is in talks with major automakers to license the FSD software that is expected to underpin its robotaxis, Musk said. To power his broader artificial intelligence vision, Musk's xAI startup has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus," is touted as the world's largest. xAI will deploy a million of Nvidia's advanced Blackwell chips at a new facility near Memphis, Musk said. "So long as Nvidia is better than what we make, we'll keep buying from Nvidia," he said. xAI bought a 1-million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis, Tennessee, the Greater Memphis Chamber said in March. Musk, who merged xAI with his social media platform X in March, said a merger between Tesla and xAI was not being considered but was "not out of the question," though it would need shareholder approval. © Thomson Reuters 2025

Tesla plans to launch a robotaxi trial in Austin by the end of June.

Tesla plans to launch a full-scale test of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, by the end of June, CEO Elon Musk announced on Tuesday, despite concerns expressed by US regulators about the safety of its autonomous driving technology. Musk says that around ten autonomous vehicles will operate in certain targeted areas of the city considered to be the safest. This aims to rapidly expand the service to around a thousand robotaxis in the following months. "We are not going to deploy the fleet across the entire Austin area, but only in the safest areas," Musk said in an interview with CNBC. Autonomy central to Tesla's strategy This pilot test is crucial for Tesla's future, as Musk has gradually abandoned the development of a new low-cost electric vehicle platform to focus on robotaxis and Optimus humanoid robots. Much of Tesla's stock market valuation now rests on the success of these technological bets. "The only things that matter in the long run are autonomy and Optimus," Musk insisted. Tesla is also in talks with several major automakers to license its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, which is the backbone of the robotaxi project. However, the project remains under close scrutiny. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating several accidents involving FSD software in low-visibility conditions. Last week, it requested details on the conditions for launching the paid robotaxi service in order to assess its performance in bad weather. The colossal AI gamble with xAI At the same time, Elon Musk is pursuing his ambition in the field of artificial intelligence through his startup xAI. The company is massively increasing its computing capacity with Nvidia chips in order to train ever more powerful models. The "Colossus" data center, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is billed as the largest in the world. xAI plans to install one million Nvidia Blackwell chips in a new 90,000 m² site acquired in southwest Memphis, according to the Greater Memphis Chamber. "We will continue to buy from Nvidia as long as their products remain better than what we could build ourselves," Musk said. Towards a merger with Tesla? While xAI merged in March with the social network X, also run by Musk, the latter has not ruled out a future merger between Tesla and xAI. However, he specified that such a move would require shareholder approval. Finally, when asked about his role with Donald Trump, now president of the United States, Musk said he wanted to reduce his political involvement to focus more on Tesla. "My plan is to be at the White House a few days every few weeks and help out where I can," he explained. Despite declining sales in the face of growing competition and controversy over his political views, Musk intends to refocus attention on technological innovation at the heart of his strategy.