A Tesla robotaxi driving without a human behind the wheel has been spotted on the streets of Austin, Texas, according to a video posted on X on Tuesday and reshared by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as the company prepares to launch a highly anticipated robotaxi service as soon as this week.
The 10-second video showed the Tesla slowly turning left off an avenue in the state capital, as two pedestrians walk in a crosswalk just ahead. No one appeared to be in the driver’s seat, but someone appeared to be in the front passenger’s seat, while the rear windows were tinted. On the vehicle’s side was a logo with the word “Robotaxi.”
The video appeared to be the first confirmation of Musk’s statement last month that Tesla had begun testing cars on Austin public streets with no one in the driver’s seat.
Musk reshared the video Tuesday on X, writing: “Beautifully simple design.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the video. The account that posted the video did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Tesla is scheduled to launch its service as soon as Thursday, according to Bloomberg News.
Tesla is trying to compete with Google spinoff Waymo, which has been steadily growing its robotaxi service in four cities so far: Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. The service is similar to ride-hailing apps such as Uber or Lyft but without a human behind the wheel. A year ago, Waymo made its service available to anyone in San Francisco who has its app.
Three other tech startups are testing autonomous vehicles in Austin, according to a city government website: Zoox, a subsidiary of Amazon; Volkswagen ADMT; and AVRide, a spinoff of Yandex.
Tesla’s service will be tiny at first, starting with possibly 10 vehicles in its first week, Musk told CNBC in an interview last month.
Musk predicted Tuesday, though, that autonomous cars would soon become very common.
“The streets will change very rapidly,” he posted on X.
Musk is relying on the planned robotaxi service to try to turn Tesla around. The electric automaker’s sales have faltered over the past year as Musk veered into politics and supported President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, angering many Tesla owners. Tesla said its profits fell 71% during the first three months of the year.
Responding to a question from a user on X, Musk said that the software in the robotaxi test vehicles is new and not the same as the software in regular Tesla vehicles. He said the software “still requires a lot of polishing.”
