This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Tesla (TSLA, Financials) is expanding its unsupervised robotaxi service across the Austin metro area, marking another step in Elon Musk’s push to make autonomy central to the company’s future.
Tesla said its robotaxis are now operating without human supervision across the broader Austin area. The service has already been active in the city for nearly a year, though some riders have faced wait times of more than 30 minutes.
The rollout matters because Musk has shifted Tesla’s growth story beyond electric vehicles and toward AI, robotics and full self-driving software. Robotaxis are a key part of that vision.
Still, Tesla is not alone in Austin. Alphabet’s Waymo operates more than 250 vehicles in the area, compared with about 50 Tesla vehicles, according to city data.
For investors, the expansion is encouraging, but scale remains the big question. Tesla needs to prove it can move from limited service to a reliable, widely available network.
The next test is whether robotaxis can expand beyond Austin into Dallas, Houston and more U.S. cities later this year.
