Overview

• Former Waymo CEO John Krafcik, now on Rivian’s board, dismissed Tesla’s service as not a true robotaxi because it requires a human safety operator.
• Tesla’s invite-only ride-hailing program in the San Francisco Bay Area runs with a safety monitor behind the wheel and has not applied for California’s fully driverless testing or deployment permits.
• In Austin, Tesla continues a supervised driverless pilot that is under review by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and state regulators.
• Elon Musk defended the rollout on social media, forecasting that critics will reverse course and praising Tesla’s self-driving system while promising broader access next month.
• Competitors such as Waymo have operated lidar-equipped, fully driverless fleets in multiple U.S. cities since 2020, highlighting the contrast with Tesla’s camera-only approach and invite-only zones.