Tesla has launched its Robotaxi service in the Bay Area, as CEO Elon Musk recently promised, but the “robot” part is now a bit crafty.
Tesla’s AI account on X released a coverage map Thursday, with a large portion of San Francisco, San Jose and everything in between service coverage. Musk retweeted the tweet, saying: “Besides Austin, you can ride Tesla in the SF Bay area now.”
This tweet is currently unavailable. It may be loading or being deleted.
Tesla fans will undoubtedly be happy to see the service so fast – the service was launched in Austin less than two months ago and a few weeks later, the coverage expanded to the wider area of Austin.
Mixable light speed
Comment: Living and Dining at Tesla Restaurants in Los Angeles
But as Electrek points out, in the Bay Area, the Robotaxi service is really different from cars in Austin, where cars are really driving themselves, and no one is in the driver’s seat (although the company does use human supervisors in the passenger seat).
However, in the Bay Area, there is a driver in the driver’s seat. Their job is basically to use Tesla’s fully autonomous driving set to make cars drive, but constantly supervise what they do, and if the car makes a mistake, be ready to take over.
Politico noted that Tesla does not have a license to operate autonomous driving services in California, meaning it cannot launch a truly autonomous robot service there.
The news came after Alphabet’s Waymo mastered its expansion plans. The company recently announced it will launch its autonomous ride service in Dallas next year, after announcing its expansion in Miami and Washington, D.C.
