During the Tesla second-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk announced that he will be revealing the purpose-built “robotaxi” prototype on October 10. This reveal was postponed from the original date of August 8 due to Musk’s desire to redesign certain elements of the prototype. Musk mentioned that the delay allowed them to improve the robotaxi and add a few other features for the product unveil.
Although not much is known about what Tesla will showcase, an illustration of a small robotaxi prototype was previously seen in the biography of Musk by Walter Isaacson in 2023. Musk envisions making the vehicle accessible to people through Tesla’s app, similar to how Uber and Lyft operate. He also mentioned that once Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software is advanced enough to handle all driving aspects, Tesla owners will be able to put their own cars on the shared network.
Despite Musk’s years of promises about delivering fully self-driving vehicles, Tesla has faced challenges in executing this vision. The company is currently facing lawsuits from owners and investigations from various government agencies. When asked about offering the first unsupervised robotaxi ride, Musk expressed optimism that it could happen by the end of this year, but also acknowledged that it might be delayed until 2025, as he tends to be overly optimistic with his predictions.
In addition to Tesla’s robotaxi reveal, Alphabet’s self-driving subsidiary Waymo is planning to invest an additional $5 billion over the next few years. This commitment was announced by Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer. Waymo has also begun testing a new robotaxi built by Chinese electric automaker Zeekr on public roads in San Francisco.
Furthermore, the Federal Trade Commission has ordered eight companies offering AI-powered surveillance services to provide information about the potential impact of these products. Meta AI, Meta’s AI-powered assistant, has introduced new features including speaking in more languages and creating stylized selfies. Adobe has also released new Firefly tools for Photoshop and Illustrator, providing graphic designers with more ways to use AI models.
Overall, the tech industry continues to innovate and develop new technologies, with companies like Tesla and Alphabet leading the way in the autonomous vehicle sector. The future of self-driving cars and AI-powered services looks promising, despite the challenges and delays faced along the way.
