On Thursday, Tesla CEO and celebrity mogul Elon Musk will take the stage to showcase the company’s robotics plans, the “Cybercab.” Although the car we see is not expected to be a fully functional product, Tesla investors and fans are hoping for a working prototype or other signs that the company can navigate the technical and regulatory hurdles it will face. You can watch the event via the X live stream at 10PM ET.
With the Cybercab, Musk aims to have a fully autonomous vehicle that operates on the Tesla ridesharing network. Owners will reportedly be able to make their cars available on the network to act as autonomous cabs, like “a combination of Airbnb and Uber.”
The CEO started talking about the robotics program years ago. However, it is more important earlier this year when Tesla reportedly abandoned its plans for an entry-level EV – commonly referred to as “Model 2” – in favor of an autonomous ride project.
Unlike competitors Waymo, Cruise and Zoox, Tesla’s current self-driving car relies on cameras and AI. Reuters notes that Musk will aim to develop the technology quickly enough to “disrupt” the heavily regulated industry. Regardless of what was promised at the event, you might want to take the CEO’s promises with a few grains of salt (if not Cybertruckloads). In April 2019, Musk said, “If you fast forward a year, maybe a year [and] in three months, we will have more than a million traffic lights on the road.”
Here we are in 2024 – which you may have noticed is not, in fact, 2020 – and Tesla doesn’t have a single robot on the road.
It has strings notes that the company does not have an independent license in California and has reportedly never contacted the state’s AV regulators about testing. Waymo, Zoox, frustrated Cruise and Apple (which is no longer in the self-driving car business) logged thousands of miles testing their self-driving cars in the Golden State. Waymo is the only company in the US currently working on commercial robotaxis.
You can listen to the live stream to see what Musk and company have to say at 10PM ET / 7PM ET on Thursday.
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