June 23, 2025: Tesla shares jumped nearly 8% on Monday following the company’s quiet launch of a robotaxi pilot program in Austin, Texas, signaling a new chapter in its quest for full vehicle autonomy.
The invite-only soft launch occurred on Sunday, offering early access to select Tesla fans, investors, and influencers. Videos quickly surfaced online showing self-driving Model Y vehicles cruising through Austin streets — without anyone in the driver’s seat.
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Each car runs on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, which uses a vision-only, camera-based system, as opposed to lidar and radar commonly used by competitors.
Though the driver’s seat is empty, a Tesla employee sits in the passenger seat for safety monitoring. For now, the vehicles are confined to geo-fenced neighborhoods within Austin.
Elon Musk confirmed fewer than a dozen cars were deployed. The test comes just after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new law requiring autonomous vehicles to obtain permits by September 1 — meaning Tesla has a tight regulatory deadline to meet.
While the pilot is limited in scope, it may mark an important step toward Tesla’s broader autonomy ambitions, which have faced years of delays and skepticism.
On the financial side, Tesla‘s stock now trades at $322.16. However, analyst targets average $289.30, suggesting a potential downside of around -10%, with some forecasting even lower valuations. GuruFocus also pegs Tesla’s fair value at $267.12, indicating a -17% downside risk over the next year.