The Robotaxis, autonomous taxis offered as a transportation service by Tesla, are reportedly circulating the streets of Austin, Texas, without safety monitors in the driver’s seat.
Although this information is technically correct, it appears that the company has simply transferred the safety monitors to another car following the first one.
“I just started Tesla Robotaxi operations in Austin with no safety monitor in the car,” wrote Elon Musk on his X profile (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, Tesla’s official X account went even further, describing the experience as “fully unsupervised.”
This “unsupervised” Robotaxi was shown by content creator Joe Tegtmeyer in a video that was reposted by Musk and Tesla on social media.
In the clip, a black Tesla Model Y can be seen following the Robotaxi. “You’ll also notice that behind the Model Y there’s a support car. I think they’re using this for validation,” Tegtmeyer said.
Neither Musk nor Tesla explained the purpose of the second car, but it’s safe to assume it serves as a kind of “monitoring” in case something goes wrong during the ride, which somewhat diminishes the brand’s claim that the Robotaxi is “fully unsupervised.”
Of course, it’s possible that Tesla is using the second car just for testing and that soon the Robotaxi may become a fully autonomous service. But at the current stage, that does not yet appear to be the case.
Photo and video: Tesla / X @Tsla99T / @JoeTegtmeyer. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
