After years of waiting, the Tesla robotaxi finally hit the streets of Austin, Texas, on June 22, 2025. CEO Elon Musk first mentioned the term robotaxi back in 2016. As recently as last year, Musk claimed there would be 1 million robotaxis on the road by this year.

While no one was in the driver's seat of the Tesla robotaxis, a front-seat rider acted as a "safety monitor" during the trial.

In ramping up robotaxi service, Tesla is hoping to slingshot past Waymo, another autonomous car service that operates in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, according to its website. Last week, Waymo applied for a permit to test its vehicles in New York City.