Waymo, the US driverless car firm, said it hopes to be operating a robotaxi service in London as soon as September this year. The UK government has said it plans to change regulations in the second half of 2026 to enable driverless taxis to operate in the city but has not given a specific date. Waymo said a pilot service will launch in April and Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said: We're supporting Waymo and other operators through our passenger pilots, and pro-innovation regulations to make self-driving cars a reality on British roads. The firm, which is owned by Google-parent Alphabet, showed off a fleet of cars it bought to the UK at London's Transport Museum on Wednesday. Waymo's vehicles are currently being operated by a safety driver, mapping the streets.

Humanoid robots, space travel, the science of aging--Musk was willing to weigh in on all of it at this week's World Economic Forum. But his predictions rarely work out the way he says they will. Elon Musk speaks during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth, is very good at making money. His track record of predicting the future is less stellar.

Whether due to consumer backlash or an aging EV lineup, or both, Tesla sales have again seen a global plunge, this time 13 percent last quarter compared to the previous year--proof that the electric automaker hasn't yet turned around a dismal year that saw public opinion of controversial CEO Elon Musk plummet. It could mean Tesla faces a second straight year of falling sales. And yet: Tesla is still the world's most valuable automaker by market capitalization, worth some 990 billion. At least some of that market confidence is likely traced to the happenings of June 22, when Tesla finally began allowing paying passengers to ride its autonomous vehicle service in Austin, Texas. The service rollout has been fairly smooth.

After years of promising investors that millions of Tesla robotaxis would soon fill the streets, Elon Musk debuted his driverless car service in a limited public rollout in Austin, Texas. It did not go smoothly. The 22 June launch initially appeared successful enough, with a flood of videos from pro-Tesla social media influencers praising the service and sharing footage of their rides. Musk celebrated it as a triumph, and the following day, Tesla's stock rose nearly 10%. What quickly became apparent, however, was that the same influencer videos Musk promoted also depicted the self-driving cars appearing to break traffic laws or struggle to properly function.

After nearly a decade of waiting, Tesla has launched a limited self-driving car service in the Austin, Texas, area. Company executives, including Musk, have said the autonomous vehicle technology debuting today is critical to Tesla's future. The limited service, which for now is only open to early users invited by Tesla, includes some 20 2025 Model Y sedans available for rides through a Tesla-made app between 6 and 12 am. Terms of service posted on X by invited riders indicate that the service will be paused or limited for bad weather. Rides during this invite-only phase are available for a flat 4.20 fee, Musk posted on X Sunday.

Elon Musk's Tesla plans to roll-out self-driving'robotaxis' in just a few weeks, but auto safety officials may force the billionaire to cancel his long-awaited dream Tesla was set to launch the service next month in Austin, Texas, unleashing taxis powered by its Full Self-Driving (FSD) program. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently caught wind of Musk's upcoming rollout and sent the company a letter to gather additional information. The NHTSA wants to ' understand how Tesla plans to evaluate its vehicles and driving automation technologies for use on public roads' before the robotaxis are unleashed on busy Austin streets. The agency highlighted its investigations into four crashes and a pedestrian linked to Tesla's FDS. The blow has led to Musk's critics suggesting he will have to put a pin in his plans.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has refused one of Tesla's initial attempts to trademark the term "Robotaxi" because it believes the name is generic and already in use by other companies, according to a filing spotted by TechCrunch. Tesla was hoping to trademark the term in connection to its planned self-driving car service, but now it'll have to reply with more evidence to change the office's mind. The main issue outlined in the USPTO decision is that "Robotaxi" is "merely descriptive," as in its an already commonly used term. A robotaxi typically refers to the self-driving cars used in services like Waymo. As long as Silicon Valley has believed money could be made selling autonomous vehicles (and the rides you can take in them), the term has been in use.

As robotaxis become a more familiar sight on the streets of Los Angeles, Tesla has taken a step that could bring it closer to building its own fleet of self-driving electric vehicles, the California Public Utilities Commission confirmed last week. In November, Tesla applied for a permit that would allow the electric vehicle manufacturing giant to deploy transportation services with company-owned vehicles and human drivers. The permit would be required for Tesla to advance to autonomous cabs. Chief Executive Elon Musk has long made clear his ambitions for a robotaxi service powered by Tesla vehicles, though his company has been criticized by the U.S. government's highway safety agency for making statements that its vehicles can drive themselves. To be sure, the automaker is still a long way off before it can launch a service.

The companies announced their plan to expand to Austin and Atlanta in September 2024, and Waymo raised a cool 5.6 billion in October to help pay for it. Unlike the Waymo One service offered to riders in San Francisco and Los Angeles, interested Austin riders will get a chance to ride in a Waymo just by ordering an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride, similar to how things are handled in Phoenix. You're not guaranteed to receive a Waymo when you do order one of those rides, but Uber says you can increase your chances of receiving one by changing your "Ride Preferences" in the app. Upfront prices remain the same whether you get a Waymo or not, though if you do end up in a robotaxi, you won't be prompted to tip. You'll use the Uber app to unlock the Waymo, open its trunk and start your ride, too.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. There are myriad reasons to loathe Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who has become a top ally of Donald Trump. OG haters have long accused Musk of endangering road users by exaggerating the capabilities of Tesla's navigation assistance systems, misleadingly named Autopilot and Full-Self Driving. The ranks of the angry have steadily grown, fueled by Musk's habit of amplifying trans-bashing and antisemitism as well as his demolition of Twitter. Now, as Musk cozies up to extremists across Europe, wields the Department of Government Efficiency as a wrecking ball against the federal government, and generally acts as an unelected leader, the furor is reaching a fever pitch.