Tesla has received a permit to operate a ride-hailing service in Texas through its Tesla Robotaxi LLC unit, allowing it to compete with Uber and Lyft.

The permit, issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, is valid until August 6, 2026.

Tesla began a limited ride-hailing service for invited riders in Austin in late June, using Model Y vehicles with partially automated driving systems and human safety supervisors on board.

The Texas permit allows Tesla to run its service anywhere in the state and does not require a human safety driver or valet.

Some Tesla robotaxis in Austin have been recorded disobeying traffic rules, though no injuries or serious property damage have been reported. The incidents have drawn federal attention.

Texas has generally had more relaxed regulations for autonomous vehicle testing compared to other states, but new laws will tighten oversight starting this year.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Chinese robotaxi companies have achieved massive operational scale while Tesla starts small

Tesla’s Austin pilot with 10-20 vehicles faces competition from Chinese firms that have already achieved significant market penetration.

Baidu’s Apollo Go service alone completed over 1.4 million rides in the first quarter of 2025 and operates across 15 cities, while also surpassing Waymo’s total of 10 million rides with over 11 million completed rides12.

The scale difference is striking, as Baidu operates over 700 robotaxis compared to Waymo and Cruise’s combined 600 vehicles in the U.S.3.

This operational gap highlights how regulatory environments shape market development, as Chinese companies benefit from centralized approval processes while U.S. firms navigate fragmented state-by-state regulations.

The Chinese robotaxi market is already valued at approximately $12 billion compared to $8 billion in the U.S., demonstrating how early regulatory support and government backing can accelerate commercial deployment3.

2️⃣ Tesla’s robotaxi timeline follows a pattern of ambitious promises followed by delays

Musk’s claim about serving half the U.S. population by the end of 2025 continues a long history of autonomous driving predictions that haven’t materialized.

Tesla has been promising robotaxis since 2016, with Musk claiming in 2019 that the company would have 1 million robotaxis on the road by 2020—a promise that helped raise $2 billion from investors but never came to pass.

The pattern extends beyond just timeline misses to fundamental capability claims, as Tesla’s current FSD system still requires human supervision and has been linked to safety incidents requiring federal scrutiny.

This track record of overly optimistic predictions raises questions about investor and consumer expectations, especially as Tesla shares have declined 18% this year while the company transitions focus from vehicle sales to autonomous services.

The gap between promise and delivery becomes more significant as established competitors like Waymo demonstrate working autonomous systems and newer entrants scale rapidly in international markets.

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