Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Tuesday that the company’s initial tests of its long-awaited robotaxi service, set to begin next month in Austin, Texas, will be restricted to carefully determined zones identified as “the safest.”
Speaking in an interview, Musk emphasized Tesla’s rigorous standards for entering intersections, indicating that the vehicles would only proceed if highly confident in their ability to navigate safely. If uncertainty arises, cars will choose alternate routes to avoid problematic intersections entirely.
This marks a notable shift in Tesla’s previously stated ambitions. Musk has long promoted the development of a universal self-driving system, capable of performing safely anywhere without significant human input. Adopting geofenced routes—a term describing operational limits set within specific geographic boundaries—represents a departure from this earlier goal. Nonetheless, Musk recently hinted at such a strategy during the company’s first-quarter earnings call in April, when he suggested the likelihood of “localized parameters” for early robotic taxi deployments.
Tesla intends to expand similar geofenced robotaxi trials to California and other states later this year, signaling an incremental approach toward broader adoption.
Initially, the Austin trial will involve a fleet of about 10 Model Y vehicles operating with Tesla’s fully autonomous Full Self-Driving (FSD) software without onboard human safety drivers. Musk reiterated a cautious and measured rollout, describing the company’s approach as “extremely paranoid,” which he viewed as a critical responsibility.
As an additional safety precaution, Tesla employees will remotely monitor these vehicles during the pilot phase. Although Musk noted that these human overseers would not directly manipulate or operate the cars, they will provide continual supervision and intervention guidance as necessary, in line with standard practices in the autonomous driving industry.
