Elon Musk's Tesla Officially Named AV Operator In Austin Ahead Of Robotaxi Launch

Tesla Inc.'s TSLA highly anticipated Robotaxi launch in Austin on June 12 has received a major boost as Elon Musk's EV giant has officially been named as an Autonomous Vehicle operator by the city.

What Happened: The company has officially been incorporated into the list by the local government, according to a listing on the official DMV website on Monday.

The listing suggests that Tesla's autonomous vehicles are still in the testing phase in Austin. Other AV companies include robotaxi rivals like Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGL GOOG Waymo, as well as Amazon.com Inc.'s AMZN Zoox.

Source: The City Of Austin

It's also worth noting that Waymo is the only company listed among Austin's AV operators that isn't in the testing phase. Waymo's listing shows the company is already in its deployment phase instead.

Why It Matters: The update comes as Musk shared that Tesla was already conducting Unsupervised Full Self-Driving or FSD testing in Austin a month ahead of schedule.

However, the company's robotaxi plans have been under federal scrutiny as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seeks to understand how the FSD tech would handle fog, sun glare, rain, and other low-visibility situations.

Elsewhere, Waymo has suspended its robotaxi service in Downtown Los Angeles after 5 of the company's autonomous fleet vehicles were vandalized during the anti-ICE protests in the city.

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