TechCrunch

Tesla launches robotaxi rides in Austin with big promises and unanswered questions

Verge

Tesla’s robotaxi is live: here are some of the first reactions.

Bloomberg

Tesla To Roll Out Robotaxis In Overdue Step Toward Musk Dream

Robotaxi Launch In June Will Test Tesla And Musk

CNBC

Everything we know about Tesla's robotaxi launch in Austin

Metaculus

Reuters

Tesla Tiptoes Into Long Promised Robotaxi Service 2025 06 22

Wall Street Journal

Tesla Robotaxi Explained E3Db95B

Elon Musk

Yoshua Bengio

Demis Hassabis

Melanie Mitchell

Stuart Russell

Sam Altman

Dario Amodei

Geoffrey Hinton

Yann LeCun

Gary Marcus

Max Tegmark

Shane Legg

Society is more likely to get "cat-level" or "dog-level" AI years before human-level AI.

"[W]e will eventually reach AGI... and quite possibly before the end of this century."

"Superhuman AIs" will be achieved "between a few years and a couple of decades."

"Digital intelligence" could overtake us within "5 to 20 years."

We may achieve "something like AGI or AGI-like in the next decade."

"[W]e could get to real AGI in the next decade."

"Human-level" AI could occur in "two or three years."

"I'd be surprised if we don't have AGI by [2029]."

Will AI Surpass Human Intelligence, and When?

Rishi Sunak

Kamala Harris

Bill Gates

Andrew Ng

Fei-Fei Li

Connor Leahy

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Jaan Tallinn

Marc Andreessen

Eric Schmidt

Norbert Wiener

Arthur Clarke

Irving John Good

Claude Shannon

Hans Moravec

John Smart

There's a "wall of fear-mongering and doomerism" in the AI world right now.

"Worrying about AI today is like worrying about overpopulation on Mars."

Concerns that AI could pose a threat to humanity is "preposterously ridiculous."

Claiming AI poses an existential threat is "such an extreme" and risks "wip[ing] out some of its potential benefits."

"I'm more concerned about... the risks that are here and now [than the existential threat of AI]."

Current AI is "not anywhere close" to posing an existential threat but it could in the future.

AI is the "biggest existential threat" to humanity.

AGI's worst-case scenario would be "lights-out for all of us."

Powerful AI systems "taking control" pose an "existential threat."

AI has a "10 to 25 per cent" chance of destroying humanity.

"The most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI... is that literally everyone on Earth will die."

Does AI Pose an Existential Threat to Humanity?

Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on Sunday, June 22, using 10-20 Model Y vehicles with "Robotaxi" branding operating within a geofenced area from 6 AM to 12 AM daily, charging customers a flat fee of $4.20 per ride.</span

Tech Digest

Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on Sunday, June 22, using 10-20 Model Y vehicles with "Robotaxi" branding operating within a geofenced area from 6 AM to 12 AM daily, charging customers a flat fee of $4.20 per ride.

The service operates with Tesla-employed safety monitors sitting in the front passenger seat who can intervene using a kill switch, while avoiding highways, airports, complex intersections, and bad weather conditions within the limited Austin service area.</span

The service operates with Tesla-employed safety monitors sitting in the front passenger seat who can intervene using a kill switch, while avoiding highways, airports, complex intersections, and bad weather conditions within the limited Austin service area.

Access to the robotaxi service is currently invite-only, with many invitations reportedly going to pro-Tesla social media influencers and supporters, while the general public must wait for broader availability.</span

Access to the robotaxi service is currently invite-only, with many invitations reportedly going to pro-Tesla social media influencers and supporters, while the general public must wait for broader availability.

Tesla's approach relies solely on cameras and artificial intelligence, differing from competitors which use additional radar and lidar sensors, with the company planning to expand to cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Tesla's approach relies solely on cameras and artificial intelligence, differing from competitors which use additional radar and lidar sensors, with the company planning to expand to cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The launch comes amid ongoing federal investigations into Tesla's technologies like the Full Self-Driving system, with Democratic lawmakers in Texas previously urging delays until new autonomous vehicle regulations take effect.

The launch comes amid ongoing federal investigations into Tesla's technologies like the Full Self-Driving system, with Democratic lawmakers in Texas previously urging delays until new autonomous vehicle regulations take effect.

CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised robotaxi services since 2019, with current plans to scale up to 1,000 vehicles "in a few months" and eventually allow Tesla owners to add their personal vehicles to the robotaxi fleet when not in use.</span

Washington Times

CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised robotaxi services since 2019, with current plans to scale up to 1,000 vehicles "in a few months" and eventually allow Tesla owners to add their personal vehicles to the robotaxi fleet when not in use.

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Tesla's approach relies solely on cameras and artificial intelligence, differing from competitors like Waymo which use additional radar and lidar sensors, with the company planning to expand to cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.</span

FT #

Tesla's approach relies solely on cameras and artificial intelligence, differing from competitors like Waymo which use additional radar and lidar sensors, with the company planning to expand to cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The launch comes amid ongoing federal investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into Tesla's autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, with Democratic lawmakers in Texas previously urging delays until new autonomous vehicle regulations take effect.</span

Washington Times #

The launch comes amid ongoing federal investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into Tesla's autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, with Democratic lawmakers in Texas previously urging delays until new autonomous vehicle regulations take effect.

Tech Digest #

The robotaxi rollout appears overhyped given its severe limitations and Musk's history of broken promises. Operating with safety monitors contradicts claims of "unsupervised" driving, while the tiny fleet and restricted service area hardly constitute a commercial launch. Federal safety investigations and regulatory scrutiny raise serious questions about the technology's readiness for widespread deployment.

The robotaxi rollout appears overhyped given its severe limitations and Musk's history of broken promises. Operating with safety monitors contradicts claims of "unsupervised" driving, while the tiny fleet and restricted service area hardly constitute a commercial launch. Federal safety investigations and regulatory scrutiny raise serious questions about the technology's readiness for widespread deployment.

Would Hail Robotaxi Musk Bets Cabs Give Tesla Lift

Tesla launches robotaxi service in Austin

Artificial Intelligence

Tesla Launches Limited Robotaxi Service in Austin

Commuting

Science & technology

Transportation

Tesla's Austin robotaxi launch heralds a transformative moment in urban mobility — clean, autonomous vehicles navigating streets with AI, offering passengers a glimpse into tomorrow's transportation landscape. Questions may linger, but this undoubtedly is humanity's bold leap toward a future where technology serves our daily journeys.

Tesla's Austin robotaxi launch heralds a transformative moment in urban mobility — clean, autonomous vehicles navigating streets with AI, offering passengers a glimpse into tomorrow's transportation landscape. Questions may linger, but this undoubtedly is humanity's bold leap toward a future where technology serves our daily journeys.

InsideEVs

Tesla Robotaxis Are Already Zooming Around Austin

Washington Post

Waymo driverless taxis have their critics. I’m not one of them. - The Washington Post

Tesla's Austin robotaxi debut reveals profound uncertainties: unproven camera-only technology compared to rivals' advanced sensors, unclear regulatory approval pathways, questionable scalability from a handful of geo-fenced vehicles, and mounting pressure to transform years of bold promises into measurable autonomous driving reality.

Tesla's Austin robotaxi debut reveals profound uncertainties: unproven camera-only technology compared to rivals' advanced sensors, unclear regulatory approval pathways, questionable scalability from a handful of geo-fenced vehicles, and mounting pressure to transform years of bold promises into measurable autonomous driving reality.

Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions face a reality check after launch

There is a 4% chance it will be possible to order flying taxis in at least five cities before 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

There is a 4% chance it will be possible to order flying taxis in at least five cities before 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Tesla Launches Limited Robotaxi Service in Austin

Tesla Launches Limited Robotaxi Service in Austin

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Tesla Launches Limited Robotaxi Service in Austin

Tesla Launches Limited Robotaxi Service in Austin

The Spin

Metaculus Prediction

The Controversies

LeCun

Marcus

Bengio

Hinton

Hassabis

Altman

Amodei

Musk

Andreessen

Ng

LeCun

Mitchell

Li

Bengio

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Hinton

Amodei

Yudkowsky

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