Tesla says it has delivered on Elon Musk’s promise to “open up” its Robotaxi service in September — but with significant caveats.
The company has launched the Tesla Robotaxi app on the iPhone, allowing anyone in the U.S. to download it and join a waitlist. However, this doesn’t mean widespread access to rides just yet.
Currently, Tesla’s Robotaxi service remains extremely limited. The fleet is small, operates only in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, and every ride requires in-car supervision from Tesla employees. In reality, what has been “opened up” is the app, not the service itself.
For now, joining the app simply places users on a waitlist. Those located in the two operating regions stand a higher chance of being approved sooner. Tesla says Android support will be added later.
At its core, the Robotaxi project still functions as a large-scale demonstration of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. While FSD can technically perform all driving tasks, it has yet to prove it can do so with the consistency required for Level 4 autonomy. That’s why drivers — or Tesla supervisors — remain mandatory for every trip.
The bottom line: the real value of Robotaxi right now lies in the data it generates. The rest, critics argue, is mostly show.
