Joel Angel Juarez/REUTERS
Tesla is rolling out its ride-hailing service in San Francisco — but don’t call it a robotaxi.
“You can now ride-hail a Tesla in the SF Bay Area, in addition to Austin,” wrote Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a post on X in the early hours of Thursday.
Tesla AI’s X account also confirmed that invitations to the “ride-hailing service” were being sent out and posted a map of the service’s operating area, which covers the Bay Area, Fremont, and central San Jose.
Musk and Tesla did not refer to the service as a robotaxi. Business Insider previously reported that the company would launch its robotaxi service in California this weekend.
According to an internal memo viewed by BI’s Grace Kay, the invite-only service would launch with safety drivers behind the wheel. A subsequent app update told users that robotaxi rides in California would take place with a safety driver using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) technology.
A video shared on X by Tesla influencer Teslaconomics of what they said was their first ride on the Bay Area service appears to confirm that Tesla is using safety drivers in California, and that the company is charging for the rides.
California has strict regulations covering autonomous taxi services. Rules in Texas, where Tesla has been operating its robotaxis since June, are less stringent.
The company is yet to apply for the permits required to test and deploy fully driverless taxis in California, a spokesperson for the California DMV told BI last week.
Tesla does hold a transportation charter permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, which the agency said allows the EV giant to transport members of the public in a “non-AV” vehicle with a driver.
Musk has set ambitious goals for Tesla’s robotaxis, telling investors last week that he expected the service to be available to around half of the US population by the end of the year.
Tesla, the California DMW, and the California Public Utilities Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment, sent outside normal working hours.
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