Tesla Robotaxis roll out in Austin with no 'safety monitor'

15 Dec 2025, 16:28 · The Fresno Bee

Some executives believe in underpromising and overdelivering. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not one of them.

Musk often brags about how his products are either changing the world now, or will do so in the future. One of his favorite recent topics is Tesla Robotaxi.

Tesla has teased its Robotaxi program since Musk first mentioned it in 2016. As recently as last year, Musk claimed there would be 1 million of them on the road by 2025.

Tesla launched in Austin in June with just 10 Robotaxis.

While the Tesla faithful are excited for the launch, the anemic fleet size and constant presence of a "safety monitor" have left much to be desired by non-fanboys.

For thousands of people, an autonomous Tesla Robotaxi ride is a phone app way.

Photo by picture alliance on Getty Images

Tesla Robotaxi begins expansion

Tesla had fewer than a dozen Robotaxis active in the city at launch, resulting in long wait times for fans who wanted to use the service. But last month, Musk indicated that the Tesla Robotaxi fleet in Austin was expected to double in December.

"It's prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well, and then scale it up," Musk told CNBC's David Faber at the time of the launch.

At the same time, however, he gave Tesla investors a slightly different message.

"I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year," Musk said during the opening remarks of the company's second-quarter earnings call weeks later in July.

By the third-quarter call in October, Musk had struck a much more sober tone. He preached being "cautious about the deployment," saying that the company's goal now was to be "actually paranoid about deployment" because, as he put it, "even one accident will be front-page headline news worldwide."

Last Month, Arizona granted a permit for Tesla to operate a ride-hailing service in the state, clearing the path for Tesla to fulfill one of Musk's many promises.

Based on footage from Austin over the weekend, Robotaxi is also close to fulfilling an even bigger promise.

Tesla Robotaxis spotted in Austin with no "safety monitor"

Over the weekend, social media users spotted a Tesla Robotaxi in Austin, Texas, sans the human "safety monitor" that had been ubiquitous in the vehicles.

This is a big step for Tesla, which sees driverless technology as a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity for the company.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that "testing is underway with no occupants in the car."

Indeed, in addition to having no human safety monitor, the vehicle also doesn't have a human passenger in the vehicle, as Tesla does not have permission to operate without one if passengers are in the car.

However, as Forbes points out, just because there is no one in the car doesn't mean a human isn't guiding the vehicle.

"The car can be driven remotely, or supervised remotely, using high-quality public data networks," according to Forbes writer Brad Templeton. "I expect... this Tesla deployment has full-time remote monitoring and a kill switch. As they should."

Earlier this year, Tesla released a photo showing its Robotaxi control room consoles with steering wheels visible in the background. Tesla also put out employment ads last year for software developers to build remote driving systems.

So, while Tesla fans should celebrate the accomplishment, there are more hurdles to overcome before the company realizes its Robotaxi dreams.

Robotaxi faces stiff competition from Waymo, Zoox

Tesla is not the only company fighting for autonomous vehicle space on American roads.

Alphabet-backed Waymo and Amazon-backed Zoox are also two big players in the field, and each company has a distinct advantage over the others in some way.

As of July 2025, Waymo One is available 24/7 to customers in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Waymo partners with Uber in Austin and Atlanta. The company recently announced plans to expand into other cities such as Boston and Seattle.

Waymo quick facts:

Founded in 2009.
Passed the first U.S. state self-driving test in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2012.

Source: IEEE Spectrum
Spun out from Alphabet as a separate subsidiary in 2016.
As of July 2025, Google indicates that Waymo One is available 24/7 to customers in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

In July, the company celebrated driving 96 million fully autonomous miles. Waymo had reported traveling 71 million miles autonomously in March after reaching 50 million at the end of 2024.

Waymo has approximately 800 autonomous vehicles operating in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to data the company shared with the San Francisco Examiner in August. In April, Waymo said it was delivering over 250,000 paid rides per week in the U.S., a big jump from the 200,000 it reported in February.

Finally, there is Zoox, which this year announced plans to offer free ride-hailing services in San Francisco for the first time through its Zoox Explorers early rider program.

"Zoox has been testing our autonomous technology in San Francisco since 2017," said Aicha Evans, CEO.

"It's our home. A city of innovation and progress, with an amazing mobility ecosystem that we feel Zoox can really complement. We have seen incredible interest in Zoox in this market and are excited about this first step to bring our purpose-built robotaxi experience to more people."

TheStreet

This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 8:28 AM.