Tesla offers robotaxi passengers in Austin without a human safety driver in the front seat.
CEO Elon Musk on Thursday posted on X, a social media platform: “Just started a Tesla Robotaxi drive in Austin without a safety monitor in the car. Congratulations to the Tesla AI team!”
He then put out a recruitment pitch for engineers interested in “real-world AI completion,” which he said “may lead to AGI” to join Tesla’s AI team.
The automaker launched the robotaxis Texas city last June in limited deployment with the safety operator in the front passenger seat. Tesla initially offered those first rides to select influencers and customers. In December, Tesla began testing robotaxis in Austin without a safety driver in the front seat – precautions in case the vehicle needs a human to take over.
Not all of Tesla’s fleet in Austin will be fully driverless. According to Tesla’s AI leader Ashok Elluswamythe company will “start with some unsupervised vehicles mixed with a wider robotaxi fleet with safety monitors, and the ratio will increase over time.”
It’s unclear if the rides are free or if Tesla charges a fee. Some of Tesla’s rivals, such as Zoox and Waymo, aren’t immediately charging for driverless rides when they roll out startups.
TechCrunch has reached out to Tesla for clarification.
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