In a bold move, Elon Musk has introduced a fleet of self-driving Cybercabs, devoid of steering wheels and brake pedals, onto the streets of Austin. This ambitious rollout aims to convince the American public to embrace rides in vehicles that offer no manual control, despite safety concerns.
The golden Teslas, which passengers cannot operate in emergencies, mark a significant step as Tesla prepares to expand its autonomous taxi service to additional urban centers. Following a downturn in vehicle sales, Tesla shares experienced a surge of over 5% on Thursday, fueled by optimism that these futuristic taxis will gain rapid acceptance.
Prior to the launch, Tesla teased the new vehicles on its social media platform X, showcasing a Cybercab hovering over Austin’s skyline and describing the event as “A Storm of Cybercabs.” An exclusive launch event was anticipated later that day.
The timeline for the widespread availability of the Cybercab service remains uncertain, but Musk faces pressure to act swiftly. Currently, Tesla lags behind self-driving taxi pioneer Waymo in terms of both the number of operational vehicles and completed rides. To close this gap, Tesla must prove that its camera-based system can effectively navigate urban environments and avoid pedestrians. In contrast, competitors like Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox incorporate additional technologies such as radar and lidar.
Even if the technology performs well, public acceptance remains a significant hurdle. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in February revealed that 70% of American adults felt “not too” or “not at all” comfortable riding in a driverless vehicle.
The past year has been challenging for Tesla, particularly after Musk’s leadership decisions drew criticism and led to protests and boycotts in several countries. The company reported its second consecutive annual decline in vehicle sales and saw its profits diminish, losing its title as the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer to China’s BYD.
While Austin has hosted a self-driving Tesla “robotaxi” service since June of the previous year, those vehicles are still equipped with traditional controls. Initially, safety drivers were present to intervene if necessary, but the service has since expanded to five additional cities in Texas and Florida, now utilizing over 200 “unsupervised” robotaxis. In comparison, Waymo boasts more than 4,000 such vehicles across 14 cities.
In the Pew survey, only 16% of U.S. adults expressed they would feel “somewhat” comfortable in a driverless car, while a mere 7% indicated they would be “extremely” or “very” comfortable. Furthermore, a separate Gallup poll from 2025 indicated an increase in skepticism about the safety of autonomous vehicles, with more respondents believing that vehicles operated by humans are the safer choice compared to figures from 2018.
Despite Musk’s ambitions, his ability to persuade the public to embrace vehicles with no human controls is questionable. A Pew poll from January found that almost 60% of U.S. adults held a “very” or “mostly” unfavorable view of him.
Musk envisions a future where Tesla sends full self-driving software to hundreds of thousands of vehicles through updates, allowing owners to transform their cars into on-demand taxis. However, regulatory bodies in the U.S. and abroad have indicated that significant hurdles remain.
Currently, Tesla has not received approval for drivers to use its partial self-driving software in most European Union nations. In the U.S., where the software is available, regulators have launched several investigations into its safety, examining incidents involving crashes in low-visibility conditions and failures to report accidents promptly.
