Tesla’s Robotaxi App Is Here, but It Still Needs a Driver

Tesla just launched its robotaxi app to the public, marking the first time anyone can request a ride in one of its self-driving cars. The service is live in a few U.S. cities and looks a lot like Uber, but every ride still has a safety driver behind the wheel. In this episode, we walk through what the app actually offers, how Tesla is setting it up as a test run for something bigger, and why full autonomy still isn’t on the table. We look at how Tesla’s vision-only approach compares to rivals like Waymo, what regulators are saying, and how this pilot could shape Tesla’s future beyond car sales.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
Boring Company and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
Tesla just took the next step inits robo taxi roll out by
officially launching A dedicatedride Hamming app and opening

(00:23):
access to the service for the public in a growing number of
U.S. cities. The company moved from limited
internal tests to a broader pilot program that now lets
regular users hail self driving Teslas through a stand alone
app. That shift raises one big
question though. How does Tesla plan to scale
this while still being years away from regulatory approval

(00:44):
for full autonomy? Now Tesla made the new robotaxi
experience available in select locations, including parts of
Austin and San Francisco, where it already had heavy full Self
driving beta penetration. Users can now download the test
the Ribotaxi app, request rides,and experience a system in
vehicles that still include a safety driver.

(01:04):
Tesla quietly confirmed the launch during its most recent
event, but is letting the app speak for itself and has the
same clean interface as Tesla's car UI, and its back end is
reportedly built on top of the existing Tesla app
infrastructure. Now, Tesla designed the system
to mimic the flow of Uber or Lyft with trip estimates, driver

(01:25):
rival tracking, and an option torate the experience.
What it doesn't have as a fully autonomous vehicle yet though,
Tesla still requires a person tomonitor behind the wheel, and in
most cases, that driver can intervene instantly.
That reality hasn't stopped ElonMusk from saying publicly that
robo taxis will soon be the coreof Tesla's revenue model.

(01:46):
Internally, Tesla teams are treating the soft launch as a
real world simulation of what the final service might look
like. This isn't just another rollout,
though. Tesla filed to operate as a
transportation network company at TNC in multiple states,
including California and Texas. To legally run a commercial ride
Handling service of that legal framework means Tesla now has to

(02:08):
play by the same operational rules as Uber and Lyft,
including safety monitoring, incident reporting, and vehicle
compliance standards. Tesla is currently operating
under a limited pilot designation which allows for
human supervised testing withoutthe fully autonomy certification
that Cruz and Waymo had to obtain.
You know, Musk keep saying full autonomy is just around the

(02:30):
corner, but that corner keeps moving.
Tesla has yet to prove that it'sFSD stack can handle every
driving scenario without intervention.
In a recent months, the company has started emphasizing
supervised autonomy instead, framing the robotaxi program as
a way to collect scale data while still having a human on
board, and the current app rollout reflects that shift.

(02:51):
Tesla is gathering real world user behavior, right acceptance
data, and edge case driving scenarios while still operating
within legal limits. Tesla stock reacted immediately
to this launch, of course, with bulls pointing to the app as the
first clear sign that Tesla is moving beyond hardware sales.
Tesla can convince regulators, investors, and consumers that

(03:12):
its software can generate ride hailing revenue at scale that
would validate years of promisesby Elon Musk.
The company has long argued thatits valuation depends less on
cars sold and more on monetizingautonomous models.
And with the app in market, Tesla can now start showing real
usage numbers, even if they still come with a human

(03:32):
chaperone on board. Now critics point out that other
self driving companies have already been Tesla to full
autonomy, at least in limited zones.
Waymo and crews received permitsfor fully driverless operations
in parts of San Francisco and Phoenix.
Tesla, meanwhile, still operateswith a safety driver in every
robo taxi. And the difference is Tesla's

(03:53):
decision to skip lidar and HD mapping in favor of a provision
approach, which it claims will scale more easily over time.
And that choice has made regulators hesitant.
And there's still no timeline for when Tesla will apply for
driverless permits. Tesla's real differentiator is
scale. The company already has millions

(04:13):
of cars on the road with FSD capabilities.
If it ever flips the switch on unsupervised mode, it could
instantly convert a huge percentage of its fleet into
revenue generating robo taxis. That's the core of the bull
case. Even though today's service
still includes a human monitor, infrastructure now exists to
turn every FSD enabled Tesla into a ride handling vehicle

(04:35):
with a software update. At the same time, Tesla faces
new technical and legal challenges that could slow that
vision. Recent investigations into the
safety of FSD has raised questions about its ability to
meet the standards required for driverless operation.
Tesla is still under review by multiple regulatory agencies,
and its own crash data hasn't fully cleared the skepticism

(04:56):
around system reliability. Now, unlike Cruise, which faced
a temporary shutdown due to safety concerns, Tesla is trying
to walk the line between public testing and regulatory
compliance without making major public concessions.
Now, the app launch also exposesTesla to a new category of user
feedback that it hasn't had to deal with before.

(05:18):
Passengers are now experienced the FSD system from the
backseat, which means every slowturn, awkward lane merge, or
stop sign hesitation get scrutinized in a way that normal
drivers might ignore. Experience may feel novel right
now, but Tesla will need to refine both the system behavior
and the overall rider experienceif it wants to be on par with

(05:40):
Uber and Lyft and I'll. Tesla's timeline for going fully
driverless remains undefined. The company has yet to submit a
formal application for driverless operation in most
states. Sources inside the California
Public Utilities Commission say they haven't received a full
autonomy filing from Tesla. And until that changes, the
Robotaxi app will stay in hybridmode, the safety drivers on

(06:03):
board and data flowing back to Tesla HQ for system refinement.
The app state BU creates the framework for a service that
could eventually scale, but the technology inside the car still
has to meet the legal and performance threshold for
unsupervised operations. Tesla has moved from promises to
partial roll out, but the leap to full autonomy remains

(06:23):
unproven. Hey, thank you so much for
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(06:45):
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