Tesla IncTesla adopts cautious tone on robotaxi expansion, slower than earlier predictions, citing regulatory and operational challenges.
Tesla executives struck a more guarded tone on the company's robotaxi expansion during Wednesday's earnings call, a shift from CEO Elon Musk's earlier prediction that the service would reach half the U.S. population by end of 2025. Since launching a small pilot in Austin in June 2025, Tesla has expanded to only a handful of cities in Texas and Florida, with service often limited to outlying areas, and paying customers have traveled 2.5 million miles including 380,000 miles without an in-vehicle safety monitor. By contrast, Alphabet's Waymo has driven more than 220 million autonomous miles through March, underscoring its lead in commercial deployment. Executives cited city-by-city regulatory differences and operational challenges as reasons for the slower pace, while Vice President of AI Ashok Elluswamy described growth in robotaxi miles as 'literally exponential' but still in its early phase. Tesla's stock, which trades at more than 166 times forward earnings estimates, was down about 4% in premarket trading.
Tesla IncTesla adopts cautious tone on robotaxi expansion, slower than earlier predictions, citing regulatory and operational challenges.
Alphabet Inc Class CWaymo's lead in autonomous miles is highlighted, contrasting with Tesla's slower robotaxi rollout.