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Tesla Begins Driverless Robotaxi Service in Austin, Texas (theguardian.com) 69

Posted by EditorDavid from the keeping-Austin-weird dept.
With no one behind the steering wheel, a Tesla robotaxi passes Guero's Taco Bar in Austin Texas, making a right turn onto Congress Avenue.

Today is the day Austin became the first city in the world to see Tesla's self-driving robotaxi service, reports The Guardian: Some analysts believe that the robotaxis will only be available to employees and invitees initially. For the CEO, Tesla's rollout is slow. "We could start with 1,000 or 10,000 [robotaxis] on day one, but I don't think that would be prudent," he told CNBC in May. "So, we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40."

The billionaire has said the driverless cars will be monitored remotely... [Posting on X.com] Musk said the date was "tentatively" 22 June but that this launch date would be "not real self-driving", which would have to wait nearly another week... Musk said he planned to have one thousand Tesla robotaxis on Austin roads "within a few months" and then he would expand to other cities in Texas and California.
Musk posted on X that riders on launch day would be charged a flat fee of $4.20, according to Reuters. And "In recent days, Tesla has sent invites to a select group of Tesla online influencers for a small and carefully monitored robotaxi trial..." As the date of the planned robotaxi launch approached, Texas lawmakers moved to enact rules on autonomous vehicles in the state. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Friday signed legislation requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles. The law does not take effect until September 1, but the governor's approval of it on Friday signals state officials from both parties want the driverless-vehicle industry to proceed cautiously... The law softens the state's previous anti-regulation stance on autonomous vehicles. A 2017 Texas law specifically prohibited cities from regulating self-driving cars...

The law requires autonomous-vehicle operators to get approval from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles before operating on public streets without a human driver. It also gives state authorities the power to revoke permits if they deem a driverless vehicle "endangers the public," and requires firms to provide information on how police and first responders can deal with their driverless vehicles in emergency situations. The law's requirements for getting a state permit to operate an "automated motor vehicle" are not particularly onerous but require a firm to attest it can safely operate within the law... Compliance remains far easier than in some states, most notably California, which requires extensive submission of vehicle-testing data under state oversight.
Tesla "planned to operate only in areas it considered the safest," according to the article, and "plans to avoid bad weather, difficult intersections, and will not carry anyone below the age of 18."

More details from UPI: To get started using the robotaxis, users must download the Robotaxi app and use their Tesla account to log in, where it then functions like most ridesharing apps...

"Riders may not always be delivered to their intended destinations or may experience inconveniences, interruptions, or discomfort related to the Robotaxi," the company wrote in a disclaimer in its terms of service. "Tesla may modify or cancel rides in its discretion, including for example due to weather conditions." The terms of service include a clause that Tesla will not be liable for "any indirect, consequential, incidental, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, including lost profits or revenues, lost data, lost time, the costs of procuring substitute transportation services, or other intangible losses" from the use of the robotaxis.
Their article includes a link to the robotaxi's complete Terms of Service: To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Robotaxi, Robotaxi app, and any ride are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied... The Robotaxi is not intended to provide transportation services in connection with emergencies, for example emergency transportation to a hospital... Tesla's total liability for any claim arising from or relating to Robotaxi or the Robotaxi app is limited to the greater of the amount paid by you to Tesla for the Robotaxi ride giving rise to the claim, and $100... Tesla may modify these Terms in our discretion, effective upon posting an updated version on Tesla's website. By using a Robotaxi or the Robotaxi app after Tesla posts such modifications, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms.

Tesla Begins Driverless Robotaxi Service in Austin, Texas More | Reply

Tesla Begins Driverless Robotaxi Service in Austin, Texas

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  • Musk posted on X that riders on launch day would be charged a flat fee of $4.20, according to Reuters. [reuters.com]

    How mature. /s [rolls eyes] Really instills investors w/confidence...

  • Austin is already overrun with Waymo taxis. Adding Teslas in the mix sounds like it's going to be fun.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      The TSLA fanbois have been hyping robotaxis as the future for Tesla and Elon has said there will be a million Tesla robotaxis on the road by 2020 (yes, 2020...some slippage there).
      The problem is that there are lots of Robotaxi competitors who are more experienced and established.
      Robotaxis are a race to the bottom. I doubt that anyone will make much money with robotaxis.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by hey! ( 33014 )

        It isn't just fanboys. Tesla stock is astronomically overpriced based on the sales performance and outlook of what normal people consider its core business -- electric cars (and government credits). For investors, Tesla is *all* about the stuff that doesn't exist yet, like robotaxis.

        Are they wrong to value Musk's promises for Tesla Motors so much? I think so, but it's a matter of opinion. If Tesla actually managed to make the advances in autonomous vehicle technology to make a real robotaxi service viab

    • Austin is already overrun with Waymo taxis. Adding Teslas in the mix sounds like it's going to be fun.

      Wonder if they burn with different colors? :-)

    • What do you mean it's "overrun" with Waymo? What actual problems are it causing other than triggering you because it's autonomous? There are plenty of Waymo vehicles in San Francisco and it's more popular than Lyft. Obviously the citizens love it now.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by vdc ( 3795451 )

        From the Cambridge dictionary:
        =====
        overrun
        verb [ T ]
        us /ovrrn/
        present participle overrunning | past tense overran us/ovrræn/ | past participle overrun

        to spread over an area quickly and in large numbers
        =====
        Nothing more, nothing less.

        I've visited Austin several times over the past two, three years and it was merely an observation. It are not causing problems other than that they seem to have their own interpretation of what constitutes a safe place to stop in order to drop off or pick up rides, but beyo

  • so kill some one and max pay out is $100?

    • I'm not sure if the slain individual couldn't sue. The T&C binds the rider, so if the rider dies, yep, 100 bucks. Less than Social Security death benefit of 255 I think it is. Curious though if buried in the T&C is if the rider is responsible for any violation the taxi performs while under contract, including while the taxi is enroute for pickup. That could include traffic tickets all the way to vehicular manslaughter.

  • Why would anyone rely on this for transportation?

    "Only in areas it considered the safest [...] plans to avoid bad weather, difficult intersections, and will not carry anyone below the age of 18."

    "Riders may not always be delivered to their intended destinations or may experience inconveniences, interruptions, or discomfort related to the Robotaxi ..."

    At best a novelty and probably closed down within months as they get up to legal status.

  • Like it or not... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by greytree ( 7124971 )
    Like it or not, this ( and others before it ) herald the beginning of the future of transportation.

    It will dramatically improve our cities and our lives, and save many lives.

    Aggressive, dangerous, Top-Gear-stoked car drivers belong on racetracks, killing each other, and not on public roads, killing the innocent.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      AI stoked cars belong on closed streets, not on public roads killing the innocent.
      Robotaxis won't be any cheaper than other taxis and Tesla's "FSD" is not safer (probably less safe) than human drivers.

      • AI stoked cars belong on closed streets, not on public roads killing the innocent.

        Wow did you miss the point. We already know that statistically, modern AI cars get into far fewer accidents than humans do.

        We also know for sure that AI cars have much better visibility than human drivers, since they can see all sides of a car clearly with zero blind spots. Perfect for city driving which is where the taxis will operate, and driving the accident rate even lower,

        You just sound like some backwater amish luddite.

        • Wow did you miss the point. We already know that statistically, modern AI cars get into far fewer accidents than humans do.

          Statistically, Uber/Lyft get into far fewer accidents than all the other drivers. And that's the only thing we should be comparing driverless taxis too... taxis.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Jeremi ( 14640 )

          We already know that statistically, modern AI cars get into far fewer accidents than humans do.

          We know that the self-driving car companies have provided us with data that they say indicates that... but it's in their economic interest to convince us of that, and it's straightforward to lie with statistics if that is what you want to do. ... and even if we accept that "modern AI cars get into far fewer accidents than humans do", it's not clear that safety record extends to the LIDAR-shunning, camera-dependent Tesla implementation. Musk is making an aggressive bet that adequate safety can be achieved b

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by stooo ( 2202012 )

          >> We already know that statistically, modern AI cars get into far fewer accidents than humans do.
          That's pure investor B.S. propaganda.

    • Like it or not, this ( and others before it ) herald the beginning of the future of transportation.
      It will dramatically improve our cities and our lives, and save many lives.

      Can't wait for driver-less car settings like in the Amazon series Upload [wikipedia.org] ... :-)
      (a) Prioritize occupant.
      (b) Prioritize pedestrian.

      • Can't wait for driver-less car settings like in the Amazon series Upload [wikipedia.org] ... :-) (a) Prioritize occupant. (b) Prioritize pedestrian.

        What about following the law and picking (c) avoid accidents.

    • You're comparing driverless taxis to teenagers in overpowered cars or assholes in oversized trucks instead of to taxis... Ubers, etc.

      The experience won't be better or safer than an Uber/Lyft, and the assholes won't be trading in their fast cards and huge trucks to use taxis.

      • "the assholes won't be trading in their fast cards and huge trucks to use taxis."

        We won't be asking the assholes for their opinions - they're assholes.
    • We can't keep automating the shit out of every possible type of job. Not without coming up with a way to give people money to buy things without them working for them, and that's just not in the cards.

      As it stands we've had 50 years of automation ripping through the factory job market. Those used to be good paying middle class jobs now they are few and far between or they are borderline slave labor in places like India and China.

      As more and more things are automated you have fewer and fewer people a

  • Their tech doesn't work (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Sunday June 22, 2025 @05:44PM (#65468423)
    Somebody's going to get killed. They just had an incident on a test course where their vehicles ignored a School bus with its lights and stop sign out.

    This is Elon trying to pump his stock and the corrupt government of Texas letting him do it at the cost of their own citizens' lives and property.

    It's not working anymore. There isn't anyone left alive who doesn't know and understand Tesla is going to collapse soon. It's not if it's when and who is going to get caught holding the bag.

    In the old days they dump it on the public pensions but those are mostly gone except for a handful of them in blue states that won't allow you to do that.

    That leaves your 401k. Rules have been relaxed and it becomes possible to do that kind of bad stock dumping into individual people's 401ks. People will find out the hard way what a Chesterton fence is over the course of the next 20 years...

    • Somebody's going to get killed. They just had an incident on a test course where their vehicles ignored a School bus with its lights and stop sign out.

      Tesla vehicles are already killing people. Specifically, they keep plowing into emergency vehicles who have [autoweek.com] their [arstechnica.com] lights [qz.com] on [cbsnews.com].

      • Humans drive into stationary emergency vehicles all the time. Self-driving cars don't need to be perfect, they just need to be a bit better than humans. In the end it'll come down to insurance companies*, and they'll just look at the numbers. There will be a point where insurers will charge you extra if you have a steering wheel and pedals fitted.

        *) in sane legal systems, where a robotaxi manufacturer can't just be sued for millions just because someone died; the plaintiff would have to show gross neg

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Jeremi ( 14640 )

          Self-driving cars don't need to be perfect, they just need to be a bit better than humans.

          The exact values of "a bit" and "humans" are worth examining. Is it enough for them to just be better than the average human driver, or do they need to be as good as or better than the best human drivers? And if so, how much better is "enough better" to offset the social cost and complexity overhead of integrating the new technology into the road system?

      • Clearly that's just Elon musk's deep concern for the black lives matter movement being programmed into the code /s

        Seriously though I hadn't realized they were crashing into emergency vehicles but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Fucking Christ I'm so tired of being experimented on.

    • Rigged demo. Big clue is that it was posted on "Bluesky" for one thing...

      You can tell it was faked by the supposed screen not showing the man standing on the left side of the road, clearly visible the whole time. They obviously captured the screen from when there was no dummy present and then overlaid that without self driving enabled at all.

      • Re:Their tech doesn't work (Score:4, Informative)

        by maladroit ( 71511 ) on Sunday June 22, 2025 @09:53PM (#65468801) Homepage

        Not rigged.

        This is the most recent iteration of the 'Teslas plowing into kids' demonstration:
        https://www.austinchronicle.co... [austinchronicle.com]

        But it's not new:
        https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/21... [cnn.com]
        https://www.yahoo.com/news/dis... [yahoo.com]
        https://interestingengineering... [interestin...eering.com]
        https://www.cbsnews.com/detroi... [cbsnews.com]

        • Not rigged.

          And your proof for that is? Because I clearly explained to you how you can see it was rigged in the video they provided. You need to at least explain that.

          This is the most recent iteration of the 'Teslas plowing into kids' demonstration:>

          Pretty hilarious assertion, in that first link you can see from the screen on the car in the first photo of the article they are not in self-driving mode as it has the map up. Just because a guy has his hands off the steering wheel does not mean the car i

          • they are not in self-driving mode as it has the map up
            You are wrong.

            The map is always displayed; the 'car status area' changes when the vehicle is in FSD. In that photo, the car status area is behind the steering wheel.

            This link shows the screen layout: https://www.tesla.com/ownersma... [tesla.com]

            Also from that link: "You can expand/condense the visualization...", i.e. in some cases the map display might be smaller. But the fact that you can see a map on that screen does not prove anything about the car's status.

            the v

            • not proof of anything when there are so many other sources that have demonstrated the same problems with Tesla's FSD.

              No no no you don't understand, every video is rigged. It's a Tesla haters driven conspiwacy.

          • Conservative victim complex. You are a sick, sad individual

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Jeremi ( 14640 )

            Surely Tesla's supporters could debunk the whole thing by setting up their own tests that demonstrate FSD successfully detecting and avoiding the 'kids'? It's not terribly a difficult test to perform, and positive demonstration of correct functionality would be more convincing than just accusing other peoples' tests of being rigged/flawed/dishonest.

          • Flat earther style denial here.
            Go to youtube. Search for FSD.
            Now watch them. Most are done by fans who are showing off this how "great" it is.
            Then see how many times they have to intervene.
            Then realise that cameras can be easily blinded or fooled, and that not having other sensors is just plain dumb.

            Of course, you won't do that, you've already bought into the hype. I bet you even think that your glorious CEO isn't far right....

    • Somebody's going to get killed.

      Human-driven vehicles already cause plenty of fatalities. As long as they do better than the average Uber/Lyft driver, they're ahead of the curve.

      My gripe about this cars-as-a-service business model is that it's another step towards a "you'll own nothing and be happy" future. China gets a sub-$10k BYD Seagull EV, while we get "affordable EVs" via a rent-seeking scheme that would make a Ferengi proud.

  • Just not going to support the fascist overthrow of the U.S. government.

    I'm beginning to suspect the election might have been hacked.

  • Notice the subtle change from Elon's original "no one in the car" to "no one behind the steering wheel". That is because there is still a safety driver, just sitting in the front passenger seat. https://www.forbes.com/sites/b... [forbes.com]

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