How Tesla is proving doubters right on why its robotaxi service cannot scale
Bluestein
created: July 20, 2025, 1:16 p.m. | updated: July 20, 2025, 5:33 p.m.
(Allison Robbert—AFP via Getty Images)Tesla CEO Elon Musk launched his Austin robotaxi service nearly a month ago to great fanfare.
“The robotaxi did not see that, and the safety observer had to stop the vehicle until the train had passed.
Any robotaxi service, Waymo included, needs to be virtually flawless in order to scale the service safely—yet with Tesla there’s no sign of that, according to Martinez.
Called 13.2.9, it rolled out in May just weeks before the Austin service launched.
On Monday, Musk thought it would be funny to expand the area covered by its three-week-old Austin robotaxi service to resemble a giant penis when seen on a map.
2 weeks, 1 day ago: Hacker News: Front Page