Tesla (TSLA, Financial) has kicked off testing of its robotaxi service with employees in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area as it prepares for a broader launch this summer.
The company shared the update in a post on X, saying it has already completed over 1,500 rides and logged 15,000 miles as part of early tests. The service uses Tesla's subscription-based Full Self-Driving system—also called FSD—which still requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, despite the name.
Tesla's version isn't fully autonomous yet, but the supervised FSD system is already available to many Tesla owners.
The electric vehicle maker isn't alone in the space. Waymo, backed by Google (GOOG, Financial), is already operating a robotaxi service in Austin and handled 20% of Uber (UBER, Financial) rides in the city during the final week of March, based on YipitData findings.
Tesla also faces competition from Amazon's (AMZN, Financial) Zoox (ZOOX), and other global players like Baidu (BIDU, Financial), WeRide (WRD), and Pony AI (PONY, Financial), who have advanced their autonomous offerings.
Tesla shares have rebounded recently, gaining 3.8% in the past week and 17.4% over six months, though the stock is still down 37.9% so far this year.
