Tesla Plans to Launch Robotaxi in Bay Area As Soon As Friday, Per Memo

Tesla told staff on Thursday it plans to launch its Robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekend, according to an internal memo viewed by Business Insider.

The company said its timeline for the launch had been moved up and the service could launch as soon as Friday. Some Tesla owners will be sent an invite to use the service, the memo said, and users will pay for Robotaxi rides.

The geofenced area where Robotaxi service will operate covers a large swath of the Bay Area, including Marin, much of the East Bay, San Francisco, and stretching south to San Jose, according to the memo. The program will launch with safety drivers in the driver’s seat who will be able to control the car using the steering wheel and brakes, it said.

A spokesperson for the California DMV said the agency recently met with Tesla, but the company has yet to apply for a permit for driverless testing or deployment. The agency did not respond to questions regarding whether Tesla would be required to have a permit to launch its service with a safety monitor in the driver’s seat.

The California Public Utilities Commission granted Tesla a permit to provide a transportation service for employees, but as of July 10, Tesla had not applied for any permits that would allow it to provide a commercial service to the public, BI previously reported. The CPUC did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside its normal working hours on Friday.

Elon Musk said during Tesla’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday that its Robotaxis will operate with a safety operator in the front seat during the initial deployment in the Bay area. In Austin, where Tesla launched its Robotaxi service last month, the carmaker currently has safety monitors that sit in the passenger seat of the vehicle and remote operators that can intervene if the vehicle goes off course.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment sent outside normal working hours.

Tesla’s second-quarter earnings showed its sharpest drop in revenue in a decade, and sent the stock down over 8% in trading on Thursday.

Tesla started its Robotaxi launch in Austin with just over 10 vehicles in a geofenced area that the company has since expanded. The service is currently invite-only.

In preparation for the Robotaxi launch, Tesla built modified Model Ys at its factory in Austin, BI previously reported. The vehicles were fitted with slightly different parts than a traditional Model Y, including additional camera equipment and a second telecommunications unit.

Earlier this month, Musk said on X that the company would launch the service in the Bay Area within one to two months.

Musk said during Wednesday’s earnings call that Tesla was in the process of getting regulatory approval in California.

Musk has said the company plans to expand its service globally, but for now, it is also seeking approval in Florida and Arizona.

Business Insider previously reported that Tesla had scaled up its autonomous testing capabilities in California, more than tripling the number of workers testing in the state. In December, the electric-car maker registered 224 in-house test drivers and 104 vehicles in the state for an autonomous testing permit, according to public records viewed by Business Insider.

Earlier this month, Tesla shared a video showing its first fully autonomous delivery: a Tesla Model Y driving itself from the Austin factory to a customer’s house. Tesla’s AI Director, Ashok Elluswamy, said on X that the car reached speeds of 72 miles per hour at one point.

Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gkay@businessinsider.com or Signal at 248-894-6012. Use a personal email address, a nonwork device, and nonwork WiFi; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.