Tesla robotaxis by June? Musk turns to Texas for hands-off regulation
Elon Musk told investors in late January that Tesla would roll out «autonomous ride-hailing for money» by June in Austin, Texas — a state where the company faces almost no regulation, raising questions about how much safety and legal risk Tesla is willing to take on as it deploys unproven driverless technology on public streets.
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Tesla has long blamed its customers for accidents involving the driver-assistance systems it calls Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), noting that it warns Tesla owners to stay ready to take over driving. Now Musk is vowing to deploy truly driverless taxis, a move legal experts say would place crash liability squarely on Tesla. Musk has promised fully self-driving Teslas for about a decade and failed to deliver. The promises have grown more frequent, with more immediate timelines, in recent months as Musk has shifted Tesla's focus toward autonomous vehicles and away from mass-market EV sales.
Yet Musk's elusive comments continue to keep investors guessing about when — and at what scale, with what business model — Tesla will finally deploy fully self-driving technology that, to date, it has never displayed on public roads.
Tesla and Musk did not respond to requests for comment. Nothing in Texas law would stop Tesla from launching a robotaxi service. The state takes a hands-off regulatory approach that aligns with Musk's increasingly anti-government political stances as an advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. State law allows autonomous-vehicle
