Tesla is launching a robotaxi ride in Austin without a human safety driver

Tesla is offering robotaxi riders a ride in Austin without a human safety driver in the front seat.

CEO Elon Musk On Thursday he wrote on X, his social network: “We just started driving the Tesla Robotaxi in Austin without safety in the car.

He then created a recruitment service for professionals who want to “deal with global AI,” which he says “could bring AGI” into Tesla’s AI team.

The machine manufacturer introduced its robotaxis in Texas City June is over in limited deployment with a safety driver in the front passenger seat. Tesla initially offered the first ride to boosters and hand-picked customers. In December, Tesla began testing his robotaxis in Austin without a safety driver in the front seat – to be careful if the car needs someone to drive.

Not all of Tesla’s fleet in Austin will be self-driving. Per Tesla is leading AI Ashok Elluswamythe company will be “starting with a few unmanned vehicles mixed with a large fleet of robotaxi and security monitors, and the number will increase over time.”

Tesla charges for the ride, depending for one passenger who posted on X. There also appears to be a chase car following the driverless cars.

Some of Tesla’s competitors, such as Zoox and Waymo, did not immediately charge for driverless rides after the first deployment.

TechCrunch has reached out to Tesla for clarification.

This article has been updated to reflect new information, including that Tesla is charging for rides.