Tesla launches Robotaxi service with unsupervised FSD and no LiDAR

On Sunday, June 22, 2025, Tesla officially announced the robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, and started first rides for customers, allowing them to reach their destination autonomously.

The company has organized this launch with invited people, including prominent social media users. These first Robotaxi users were then required to be in Austin to get early access to Tesla’s autonomous vehicle.

Tesla employed Model Y, its best-selling EV and car overall, to do a self-driving ride-hailing service. Visuals shared online confirmed that the vehicle had no special modifications such as LiDAR or advanced sensors packed on top or sides.

Instead, the Model Y robotaxi was spotted with its usual gear, including cameras, and a Tesla employee was sitting in the front row to assist users. The driver’s seat was unoccupied because these vehicles use unsupervised full self-driving (FSD), Tesla’s autonomous driving technology.

Prior to launch, users received exclusive access to the robotaxi app, which is not available to the public. This app is used to order a ride, get navigation information, ETA notifications for the vehicle’s arrival, and in-vehicle destination details.

Tesla Robotaxi

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, announced plans for launching robotaxi services at last year’s We, Robot event. He initially picked Texas and California for this rollout, but first started with Austin due to fast approval for autonomous vehicles.

“Super congratulations to the @Tesla_AI software & chip design teams on a successful @Robotaxi launch!! Culmination of a decade of hard work.” Musk congratulated the Tesla team after the robotaxi service launch.

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk’s statement on Robotaxi launch (Source – X)

He also revealed that the company has designed and produced an AI chip and software in-house from scratch to make these rides possible.

Tesla is giving these rides to receive as much feedback as possible from early customers and improve the service before its robotaxi expands to the public, which may take a few months.