If you are active on X (aka Twitter), you must be aware that Elon Musk keeps posting things from his personal X handle. He is the richest person on the planet, so what he thinks about the future, technology, and AI immediately becomes a headline.
Besides courtroom rivalry with OpenAI and Microsoft, Musk’s favorite topic these days appears to be robotaxis. Or maybe he is talking about them because his automotive company, Tesla, plans to roll out a “widespread” network of driverless robotaxis across the United States by the end of 2026 — once again reviving long-standing promises around fully autonomous ride-hailing.
Elon Musk says Tesla’s robotaxis are already running driverless in Austin, with nationwide expansion planned
Well, speaking on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Musk claimed Tesla’s robotaxi service is already operating in a limited capacity and will expand rapidly over the next two years. According to Musk, Tesla has rolled out robotaxi services in “a few cities” and expects them to become “very, very widespread” across the U.S. by late 2026.
For the uninitiated, Tesla’s first real-world robotaxi rollout began back in June last year. However, at the time, the company launched limited operations in Austin, Texas. Those vehicles initially operated with human safety supervisors on board, one of the key caveats in Tesla’s eyes.
Well, the team at Tesla AI appears to have done some incredible work, as Musk, in his latest post on X, notes that robotaxi rides in Austin are now operating “with no safety monitor,” though the company has not released independent verification or additional technical details.
According to CNBC, Tesla also launched a ride-hailing service in San Francisco, but those vehicles are still driven by humans. More importantly, Tesla reportedly doesn’t have permits to test or operate driverless vehicles on public roads in California without a human behind the wheel. Late last year, California regulators accused Tesla of deceptive marketing related to its driver-assistance and autonomy claims.
A look at Musk’s past robotaxi predictions and immediate rivals
Musk’s latest timeline stands in contrast to several past predictions. In 2019, he told investors Tesla would deploy robotaxis by 2020. In July 2025, Musk said autonomous ride-hailing would reach “half the U.S. population” by the end of the year — a goal that was not met. He later predicted Tesla would have 500 robotaxis operating in Austin by late 2025, before revising that number down to around 60.
Tesla now faces intense competition in the autonomous vehicle market. Alphabet-backed Waymo continues to dominate U.S. robotaxi operations, ending last year with service across five American cities and launching in Miami this week. Amazon-owned Zoox entered the commercial robotaxi space in 2025, while Baidu’s Apollo Go leads large-scale deployments in China.
Despite industry progress, consumer trust remains a major challenge. Surveys from the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report show widespread skepticism toward robotaxis in the U.S., with safety cited as the top concern. Will that narrative change in the coming days? Well, that’s something only time will tell.
