Austin, Texas, on Sunday, Tesla’s robotaxi services launched, with the cars initially bringing in paying travellers without a vehicle behind the wheel. &nbsp,

Customers are required to pay a$ 4.20 flat fee for the @Tesla_A I robotaxi launch in Austin this afternoon. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, posted to X on Sunday. Tesla’s robotaxi services was scheduled to launch “tentatively” on June 22, according to Is earlier this month, and it did. &nbsp,

Musk praised the Tesla technology and chip design teams in a separate Sunday article on X, noting that” Both the AI device and software clubs were created from scratch within Tesla” and that the robotaxi service was the” pinnacle of a century of hard work.”

In a small area of Austin, a select group of influential people had the opportunity to experience the new self-driving company aboard Tesla’s Model Y cars. Before Tesla later releases its purpose-built Cybercab aircraft, which has no steering wheel or brakes, the robotaxi service will begin by using Tesla’s existing cars. Musk has stated that that vehicle’s production did begin “before 2027.”

A few rider experiences from Tesla’s Austin were reposted, with the latter showing passengers climbing aboard and getting dropped off, maneuvering the vehicle, crossing streets and speed bumps, and avoiding pedestrians. The movies show a worker seated in the customer seats to make sure everything is running smoothly, but no one is in the driver’s seat. &nbsp,

Tesla began testing its self-driving service with workers in the San Francisco Bay Area and a safety driver on board in the lead up to the Austin release. Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars ( without a driver’s seat ) on Austin open roads for the past few weeks with no incidents, according to Musk in May.

Texas is a promising state to launch a self-driving service due to its low regulations, minimum rules, and surrounding robotic vehicles. However, Governor Greg Abbott approved legislation that requires that autonomous car companies first obtain a state license before operating. The legislation becomes effective on September 1st. &nbsp,

Tesla joins different self-driving companies that are already in Austin. Waymo, owned by Alphabet, and Uber operate there, while Zoox, owned by Amazon, maintains its exam fleet there.