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Tesla’s launch of a robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025 has received a great deal of attention, and this is most likely due to Tesla’s vocal CEO, Elon Musk. Elon communicated already in 2019 that a robotaxi service was going to be launched in 2020, and finally, something is here.
However, little do we know about, for example, how much support the 10 Tesla Model Y vehicles get when circulating a geofenced small area in good weather conditions in the southern part of Austin. Rumors claim that these cars are remotely controlled without the passengers knowing about this. Riding in the cars is also a Tesla employee occupying the right front seat for safety monitoring, and the purpose of having this person in the vehicle is obscure.
Other robotaxi services in the United States, Waymo and Cruise, have not had any of their staff in the vehicles once their services were offered to the public. Tesla’s robotaxi service is available by invitation for now.
Full Article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 20, Number 3, September 2025
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