Tesla is finally doing unsupervised robotaxi rides | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAIPolicyHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.Hamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersExpandThe Verge DailyInstallerVerge DealsNotepadOptimizerRegulatorThe StepbackArchivesStoreSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Tesla is finally doing unsupervised robotaxi ridesComments DrawerCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...TransportationCloseTransportationPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TransportationNewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechTesla is finally doing unsupervised robotaxi ridesElon Musk celebrated the milestone, but its unclear how many people will be able to ride in Tesla’s newly unsupervised robotaxis in the immediate future.Elon Musk celebrated the milestone, but its unclear how many people will be able to ride in Tesla’s newly unsupervised robotaxis in the immediate future.by Andrew J. HawkinsCloseAndrew J. HawkinsTransportation editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew J. HawkinsJan 22, 2026, 9:23 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, TeslaPart OfTesla’s Cybercab robotaxi rollout: the biggest news and announcementssee all updates Andrew J. HawkinsCloseAndrew J. HawkinsPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew J. Hawkins is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.Tesla is finally doing unsupervised robotaxi trips in Austin, Texas, according to a video posted on X. Elon Musk reposted the video, congratulating Tesla’s AI team for the milestone.For months, Tesla’s robotaxis in Austin and San Francisco have included safety monitors with access to a kill switch in case of emergency — a fallback that Waymo currently doesn’t need for its commercial robotaxi service. The safety monitor sits in the passenger seat in Austin and in the driver seat in San Francisco. Neither service is fully open to the public yet, relying instead on customer waitlists.Musk has said that the human monitors are only there because Tesla is being “paranoid about safety,” and not because of some deficiency in the company’s technology. He later predicted that the company would remove the safety monitors by the end of 2025.It seems like he was off by a couple weeks. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP for autonomy, provided some more context on X, saying the company was “starting with a few unsupervised vehicles mixed in with the broader robotaxi fleet with safety monitors, and the ratio will increase over time.”Whether this demonstration represents progress or perhaps a disaster waiting to happen, time will tell. Tesla still uses a waitlist for its robotaxi service, and is rumored to only have a couple dozen vehicles operating in Texas. And even with the safety monitors, Tesla’s robotaxis have crashed approximately eight times in just five months, according to Eletrek. Fans are obviously thrilled by Tesla’s progress, while critics call it a con designed to highlight a capability that doesn’t exist.To some extent, this mirrors Waymo’s phased rollout strategy of starting with a handful of vehicles with safety monitors and a customer waitlist before gradually removing the monitors and opening up the list to everyone. The difference, of course, is that Waymo has driven over 100 million miles with its fully driverless, unsupervised cars. Tesla says its customers have driven 7.4 billion miles using Full Self-Driving, which is a Level 2 system that requires constant driver supervision. These are not comparable stats.Meanwhile, Waymo continues to widen its lead over Tesla, reporting over 14 million paid rides in 2025 alone and plans to expand to 20 new cities in the coming year. Despite that, Musk has continued to insist that Tesla holds the advantage over the Alphabet-owned robotaxi operator due to its vast customer fleet that he insists will soon become fully autonomous. This, of course, ignores the reality that most Teslas on the road lack the necessary hardware to support fully autonomous driving.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Andrew J. HawkinsCloseAndrew J. HawkinsTransportation editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew J. 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HawkinsJan 8Tesla’s updated FSD safety data is better, but still flawedAndrew J. HawkinsNov 20, 2025Tesla gets green light to launch robotaxis in Arizona.Andrew J. HawkinsNov 19, 2025Most PopularMost PopularClaude Code is suddenly everywhere inside MicrosoftWhat a Sony and TCL partnership means for the future of TVsSony announces its first turntables in yearsEveryone can hear your TV in their headphones using this transmitterHow much can a city take?The Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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Tesla is initiating unsupervised robotaxi operations, a significant milestone that nonetheless remains shrouded in complexities and potential pitfalls. As reported by Andrew J. Hawkins for The Verge, on January 22, 2026, Tesla began deploying robotaxis in Austin, Texas, marking a critical step towards realizing its ambitions in the autonomous ride-sharing market. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, celebrated this achievement via X (formerly Twitter), while Tesla’s VP of Autonomy, Ashok Elluswamy, clarified that the rollout would begin with a mixed fleet, incorporating vehicles equipped with safety monitors alongside those operating without direct human oversight. This phased approach, characterized by a planned increase in unsupervised vehicle ratios over time, mirrors strategies employed by competitors like Waymo.

However, several critical factors temper this seemingly positive development. While Tesla’s system has logged 7.4 billion miles driven by its customers utilizing Full Self-Driving (FSD) – a Level 2 system requiring continuous driver supervision - this statistic is markedly different from Waymo’s impressive 100 million miles driven by fully driverless, unsupervised vehicles. This discrepancy highlights the fundamental difference in the actual levels of automation achieved by the two companies. Moreover, Tesla’s robotaxis have experienced approximately eight crashes within five months, a figure that, despite being reported by Eletrek, underscores the inherent risks associated with deploying autonomous vehicles, particularly in a nascent stage of development.

The continued use of safety monitors within a portion of the fleet – a system Musk initially described as a “paranoid” measure rather than a reflection of technological limitations – adds another layer of complexity. This approach suggests a deliberate hedging of risk, but also raises questions about the long-term trajectory of the technology. The operation currently relies on a waitlist and employs a relatively small number of vehicles, further dampening expectations regarding immediate, widespread availability. It’s crucial to understand that Tesla's FSD system, unlike Waymo’s, remains a Level 2 system, requiring active driver monitoring, which further limits its operational capabilities and commercial viability. The disparity in mileage and crash statistics highlights that while Tesla is making progress, Waymo currently possesses a substantial advantage in terms of autonomy and operational experience. The ongoing debate regarding the true level of advancement compared to competitors emphasizes the considerable challenges remaining before fully unsupervised robotaxi services fully realize their potential.