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.

The company debuted its autonomous ride-hailing service Sunday. The limited program is invite-only and uses around 20 cars—signs that Tesla has a long way to go to catch up to its robotaxi rivals.