Overview

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested detailed explanations from Tesla on how its Robotaxis will handle emergencies and operate without human drivers.
• Tesla has until June 19 to respond to the NHTSA's inquiries, which include questions about the connection between its Robotaxi system and the existing Autopilot software under investigation for safety incidents.
• CEO Elon Musk announced that the Robotaxi service will launch in Austin, Texas, in late June with a limited fleet of 10–20 vehicles.
• Tesla's reliance on camera-based systems, instead of the LiDAR technology used by competitors like Waymo, has drawn skepticism from industry experts.
• Waymo remains the leader in autonomous driving, operating over 1,500 LiDAR-equipped Robotaxis across four U.S. cities and completing 250,000 passenger trips weekly.