Toronto (Canada).– Elon Musk announced this Thursday that Tesla’s robotaxi pilot service in Austin (Texas, USA) has started operating without the assistance of human beings on board the vehicle, which caused a rise in the company’s shares.
In a message on the social network X, Musk indicated the start of Tesla’s robotaxi trips without human monitors, but without explaining whether the measure was being applied to all vehicles in the fleet operating in some areas of Austin.
Tesla’s Vice President of Autonomous Driving, Ashok Elluswamy, later clarified that the company is starting “with a few unsupervised vehicles” and that the number will increase in the future.
Following the announcement, Tesla’s shares rose on the stock market and 90 minutes before the market closed were trading at $446.6, 3.52% more than at the beginning of the day.
Last year, Musk promised on several occasions that Tesla would remove supervisors from robotaxis before the end of 2025.
Data from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates that Tesla’s robotaxis have had at least eight accidents since June 2025, despite the presence of supervisors.
Austin is the only city where Tesla operates its robotaxis, which puts it far behind Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle transportation company, which began operating its robotaxi service in Phoenix in 2018.
Currently, Waymo operates without a driver or human supervision in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.
