Tesla’s robotaxis may be coming to San Francisco sooner than we thought—much sooner, as it turns out. According to Business Insider, Tesla is already mobilizing local employees with the intention of bringing service online Friday—as in, today—despite not having yet sought approval for its vehicles to operate autonomously with passengers in the state of California.
If the report proves accurate, it’s most likely that Tesla’s new service will not be entirely autonomous. Without a permit to operate robotaxis in California, ride-hailing services are required to provide human chaperones for their four-wheeled robots. We dropped Tesla a line to ask about this, and will update with details if a spokesperson is able to provide any.
Tesla’s chief rival, Waymo, originally received approval to operate without human monitors in 2023 alongside GM’s Cruise. GM later sidelined development of the platform and shut down its ride-hailing operation in San Francisco for good.
Late last year, Tesla applied for a permit that would allow it to operate as a ride-hail service, but the application included provisions for background checks and drug testing of potential operators. To be fair, inebriation would explain a lot of what we’ve seen from Tesla’s so-called Full Self Driving package, but it’s highly unlikely that recreational substances have anything to do with it—at least not on the part of the robots.
Per Reuters, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said just this week that the company was in the process of getting regulatory permission to launch driverless service in several states, including California. As of Wednesday, CA officials had not even received the company’s application, let alone approved a permit allowing Tesla to operate an autonomous taxi service.
Have you spotted a Tesla Robotaxi operating in San Francisco? Let us know at [email protected].
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