tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday that the company will have an “extensive” network of driverless robotaxis in the United States by the end of 2026.
“Tesla is rolling out a robotaxi service in several cities, and it will be very widespread in the United States by the end of this year,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
After years of delaying its promise of fully self-driving cars, Tesla’s robotaxis finally began driving in Austin in June with a human safety observer on board. The company later launched a human-driven rideshare service in San Francisco.
Musk said in July that he was confident Tesla could “bring autonomous rides to probably half of the U.S. population by the end of the year.” That didn’t happen.
In October 2025, Musk declared that Tesla should have “500 robotaxis” in Austin by the end of the year. In November, that number was revised downward to about 60.
The company does not have a permit to test or drive unmanned vehicles on public roads in California.
Musk said in a post on his social media platforms Thursday that Austin’s robotaxis are currently operating “without safety monitors.”
Musk also shared a post from Ashok Elswamy, Tesla’s vice president of AI software, which said the rollout would “start with a few unmonitored vehicles mixed in with a broader robotaxi fleet with safety monitors, and that proportion will increase over time.”
In 2019, Musk told investors he was “very confident” the company could launch a vehicle by 2020.
Tesla operates in the increasingly competitive self-driving car market. alphabet-Support Waymo in the West, Baidu’s China’s Apollo Go. AmazonWaymo ended the year in five U.S. markets, launching in Miami on Thursday.
Tesla and other U.S. robotaxi operators face an uphill battle when it comes to attracting potential passengers.
A study by the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report found that U.S. consumers are highly skeptical of robotaxis, with particular concerns about safety.
Late last year, California regulators found Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing and false advertising surrounding its vehicles’ self-driving features.
Tesla did not respond Thursday to requests for comment or more information about its ride-hailing service, Robotaxi.
It was the first time in several years that Musk attended an annual meeting of world leaders. The tech billionaire previously mocked the forum on social media, calling it “boring AF.”
In a conversation with him, black rock Musk CEO Larry Fink also said Tesla will sell the Optimus robot to the public by the end of 2027.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in 10 years, but if you look at the rate of progress in AI, we might have AI that’s smarter than humans by the end of this year. I think it’ll be next year at the latest,” Musk said.
WATCH: The year robotaxis went mainstream, with Waymo leading the way
