First Look: Tesla Opens Unsupervised Robotaxi Rides to the Public in Historic Move

Tesla has taken a major step toward fully autonomous driving, opening its first unsupervised Robotaxi rides to the general public in Austin, Texas.

As of today, anyone in Austin can hail a Tesla Robotaxi running Full Self-Driving Unsupervised, with no human safety monitor inside the vehicle. That means the car is relying entirely on cameras and AI to get passengers from point A to point B.

According to reporting from Tesla North, this is the first time Tesla has allowed public riders into a robotaxi with zero human oversight. Until now, Tesla’s Austin robotaxi fleet, estimated at around 50 vehicles, operated without drivers but still included a safety monitor in the passenger seat. That extra layer is now gone for a small number of cars.

One of the first riders to document the experience was former Tesla AI engineer @Tsla99T, who posted, “I am in a robotaxi without safety monitor,” marking what appears to be the first publicly shared unsupervised Tesla Robotaxi ride outside of internal testing.

Tesla’s AI chief Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the change on social media, saying, “Robotaxi rides without any safety monitors are now publicly available in Austin. Starting with a few unsupervised vehicles mixed in with the broader robotaxi fleet with safety monitors, and the ratio will increase over time.”

For now, only a handful of Model Y vehicles running a more advanced version of FSD Unsupervised are available. Tesla says more will be added as confidence grows. You can see Tesla owner Joe Tegtmeyer jump into a Robotaxi that’s running FSD Unsupervised:

Early riders say passengers cannot take control of the vehicle. Pulling on the steering wheel triggers a warning, and repeated interference causes the car to safely pull over.

The software powering these robotaxis is more advanced than what Tesla owners currently have access to. While Elon Musk has said modern AI4-equipped Teslas will not need new hardware to eventually run unsupervised FSD, the consumer version of Full Self-Driving remains supervised.

For Canadians, this milestone is still more symbolic than practical. Tesla has not announced any plans to launch Robotaxi services in Canada, where regulations around autonomous driving remain stricter and vary by province. In Canada, FSD is still classified as a driver-assistance system, and drivers are required to stay attentive at all times. But you can download the Robotaxi iOS app in Canada.

Tesla recently announced it would stop selling outright sales of its FSD software starting in mid-February, instead only leaving its subscription model. The company also recently launched a new entry Model Y Standard, priced at $49,990 CAD.