Despite the challenge, Tesla announced that it officially launched its robotaxi on Sunday in the city of Austin, Texas, transporting the first passengers who paid for their rides.
Super congratulations to the @Tesla_AI software & chip design teams on a successful @Robotaxi launch!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 22, 2025
Culmination of a decade of hard work.
Both the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla.
Although discreet, the launch of the robotaxi by Elon Musk’s brand was highly anticipated by investors, who are betting on this new Tesla business to alleviate the drop in sales.
In a post on social media platform X, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, described the launch of the new robotaxi as “the culmination of a decade of hard work”, adding that “the Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip and software teams were built within Tesla”.
Built different https://t.co/wm1MfvEuFs
— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) June 23, 2025
The test involved around a dozen autonomous vehicles, and passengers were invited by the American electric vehicle brand, who paid $4.20, about €3.90 per trip.
It is worth noting that the robotaxis are Model Y vehicles, fully autonomous, but that in this initial phase of testing with passengers, they will have a driver, only as a safety measure.
