LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, though fans of the electric vehicle maker will have to wait until at least 2026 before they are available.
CEO Elon Musk pulled up to a stage at the Warner Bros. studio lot in one of the company's 鈥淐ybercabs," telling the crowd that the sleek, AI-powered vehicles don't have steering wheels or pedals. He also expressed confidence in the progress the company has made on autonomous driving technology that makes it possible for vehicles to drive without human intervention.
Tesla began selling the software, which is called 鈥淔ull Self-Driving,鈥� nine years ago. .
鈥淲e鈥檒l move from supervised Full Self-Driving to unsupervised Full Self-Driving. where you can fall asleep and wake up at your destination,鈥� he said. "It鈥檚 going to be a glorious future.鈥�
Tesla expects the Cybercabs to cost under $30,000, Musk said. He estimated that the vehicles would become available in 2026, then added 鈥渂efore 2027.鈥�
The company also expects to make the Full Self-Driving technology available on its popular Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Texas and California next year.
鈥淚f they鈥檙e going to eventually get to robotaxis, they first need to have success with the unsupervised FSD at the current lineup,鈥� said Seth Goldstein, equity strategist at Morningstar Research. 鈥淭onight鈥檚 event showed that they're ready to take that step forward.鈥�
When Tesla will actually take that step, however, has led to more than a little anxiety for investors who see other automakers deploying similar technology right now. Shares of Tesla Inc. tumbled 9% at the opening bell Friday.
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit of Alphabet Inc., in vehicles without human safety drivers in Phoenix and other areas. General Motors鈥� Cruise self-driving unit had been running robotaxis in San Francisco until a crash last year involving one of its vehicles.
Also, Aurora Innovation said it will start hauling freight in fully autonomous semis on Texas freeways by year鈥檚 end. Another autonomous semi company, Gatik, plans to haul freight autonomously by the end of 2025.
鈥淭esla yet again claimed it is a year or two away from actual automated driving -- just as the company has been claiming for a decade. Indeed, Tesla鈥檚 whole event had a 2014 vibe, except that in 2014 there were no automated vehicles actually deployed on public roads,鈥� Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies automated vehicles, told The Associated Press in an email. 鈥淣ow there are real AVs carrying real people on real roads, but none of those vehicles are Teslas. Tonight did not change this reality; it only made the irony more glaring.鈥�
Tesla had 20 or so Cybercabs on hand and offered event attendees the opportunity to take rides inside the movie studio lot 鈥� not on Los Angeles' roads.
At the presentation, which was dubbed 鈥淲e, Robot鈥� and was streamed live on Tesla鈥檚 website and X, Musk also revealed a sleek minibus-looking vehicle that, like the Cybercab, would be self-driving and can carry up to 20 passengers.
The company also trotted out several of its black and white Optimus humanoid robots, which walked a few feet from the attendees before showing off dance moves in a futuristic-looking gazebo.
Musk estimated that the robots would cost between $28,000-$30,000 and would be able to babysit, mow lawns, fetch groceries, among other tasks.
鈥淲hatever you can think of, it will do,鈥� he said.
The unveiling of the Cybercab comes as Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence and robotics as it labors to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles.
Tesla鈥檚 model lineup is struggling and isn鈥檛 likely to be refreshed until late next year at the earliest, TD Cowen analyst Jeff Osborne wrote in a research note last week.
Osborne also noted that, in TD Cowen鈥檚 view, the 鈥減oliticization of Elon鈥� is tarnishing the Tesla brand among Democrat buyers in the U.S.
Musk has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and has pushed many conservative causes. Last weekend at a Pennsylvania rally.
Musk has been saying for more than five years that a fleet of robotaxis is near, allowing Tesla owners to make money by having their cars carry passengers while they鈥檙e not in use by the owners. Musk said that Tesla owners will be able to put their cars into service on a company robotaxi network.
But he has acknowledged that past predictions for the use of autonomous driving proved too optimistic. In 2019, he promised the .
The announcement comes as U.S. safety regulators are investigating Full Self Driving and Autopilot based on evidence that it has a .
In addition, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Full Self-Driving in February because it allowed speeding and violated other traffic laws, especially near intersections. Tesla was to fix the problems with an online software update.
Last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle, a hit and killed a motorcyclist, authorities said. The Tesla driver told authorities that he was using the system while looking at his phone when the car rear-ended the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
NHTSA says it鈥檚 evaluating information on the fatal crash from Tesla and law enforcement officials.
The from Tesla about Full Self-Driving and Autopilot, as well as other items.
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Krisher reported from Detroit.
Tom Krisher And Alex Veiga, The Associated Press
