Tesla starts unsupervised robotaxi rides in Austin

Tesla has begun offering fully driverless public robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, marking the first time the company has removed in-vehicle safety monitors from its autonomous ride-hailing service.

Passengers in Austin are now able to hail a Tesla robotaxi with no safety driver or monitor onboard, using a modified Model Y. Until now, Tesla’s robotaxi programme in the city had included a safety monitor seated in the front passenger seat.

The move follows internal testing conducted late last year, during which Tesla employees were trialled in vehicles without any onboard supervision. That testing phase has now expanded to public users.

Tesla’s head of autonomy, Ashok Elluswamy, has said the change does not yet apply across the entire Austin fleet, with a limited number of fully unsupervised vehicles operating alongside robotaxis that still carry safety monitors.

The Austin deployment represents a significant milestone for Tesla’s autonomous ambitions, as it is the first instance of the company offering public, driverless robotaxi rides anywhere in the world.

Tesla also operates a robotaxi service in California’s Bay Area, though those vehicles still require a human safety driver in the driver’s seat and rely on the company’s Full Self-Driving system.

Just started Tesla Robotaxi drives in Austin with no safety monitor in the car.

Congrats to the @Tesla_AI team!

If you’re interested in solving real-world AI, which is likely to lead to AGI imo, join Tesla AI. Solving real-world AI for Optimus will be 100X harder than cars. https://t.co/OnP8gredWD

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2026