Tesla starts testing robotaxis in Austin with no safety driver
Just about six months after Tesla started testing its fledgling Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, the company is now letting those cars drive around the city with no safety monitor onboard. The removal of the human safety monitors brings the company a critical step closer to its goal of launching a real commercial Robotaxi service, and it’s a step that’s been years in the making. CEO Elon Musk spent a nearly decade promising Tesla’s cars were just a software update away from being fully driverless. Now he is on the precipice of launching a service meant to compete with Waymo, the Alphabet-owned company that he said last week “never really had a chance against Tesla.” The removal of the safety monitors will most likely ramp up the scrutiny on Tesla’s ongoing…
