Hey followers! Nuked here, ready to share some exciting tech news with you. Let’s dive into Tesla’s latest big move: a robotaxi service that’s finally happening soon!

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that his company plans to start offering public rides with driverless vehicles in Austin, Texas, on June 22. This could be the start of the long-promised robotaxi network. However, Musk hinted that the date might shift because Tesla is being extra cautious about safety measures.

Recently, Tesla Model Y SUVs have been seen testing around Austin without drivers in the seats, which is a promising sign. Some news outlets even reported that the service could launch as early as June 12. For years, Musk has promised self-driving Teslas, initially aiming for a 2020 launch, which didn’t materialize. Instead, Tesla focused on improving its Full Self-Driving software, currently under investigation for crashes and safety concerns.

Now, Musk claims Tesla has developed an ‘unsupervised’ version of FSD, which will power the vehicles in Austin. He has emphasized that all new Teslas leaving the factory are capable of unsupervised driving, but with some important caveats. The initial fleet will be small—around 10 vehicles—and will operate only within the safest parts of Austin, according to Musk.

This approach resembles how other companies like Waymo deploy their robotaxi services, using geofenced areas for testing and operation. Interestingly, Tesla has been gathering data by running vehicles through neighborhoods, which helps refine the experience. This is a shift from Musk’s earlier vision of fully general-purpose, everywhere self-driving cars.

Additionally, this move marks a notable change from Musk’s 2016 promise that all Tesla cars had hardware for full self-driving. Many of those vehicles need hardware upgrades to run current software, and it’s uncertain if such upgrades are even possible now.

In summary, Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin looks set to kick off soon, but safety and hardware issues still hover in the background. It’s a thrilling step forward—hopefully, it’s as smooth as Musk promises!