Tesla Robotaxi Under Federal Probe

Tesla’s Autonomous Driving Future Jolted as Erratic Robotaxi Videos Trigger Federal Probe

A much-hyped limited launch of Tesla’s robotaxi service has hit an immediate roadblock. America's primary transport safety regulator is now seeking information from the electric carmaker. The inquiry follows the emergence of troubling videos showing the autonomous vehicles behaving erratically on the streets of Austin. This development casts a shadow over a project that chief executive Elon Musk has positioned as pivotal to the company’s future. It also raises fresh questions about the readiness of self-driving technology for public roads.

Confirmation of the agency's engagement with Tesla came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A spokesperson communicated that the body knows about the events shown online and is currently collecting more information from the carmaker. The videos, shared by some of the first passengers, were meant to showcase the technology. Instead, they have provided regulators with cause for concern, depicting cars swerving, braking suddenly, and violating basic traffic laws.

A Rocky Debut in Austin

Tesla orchestrated a carefully managed debut for its robotaxi service this past weekend. The company provided rides in a fleet of around 10 to 20 modified Model Y vehicles within a geographically restricted area of south Austin. The initial passengers were a curated group of pro-Tesla influencers and investors, invited to experience and document the new service. Human "safety monitors" were present in the passenger seats, ready to intervene if necessary.

Despite the controlled environment, the rollout quickly generated the wrong kind of attention. Several participants posted footage showing alarming glitches. One widely circulated video captures a robotaxi incorrectly navigating a left-turn-only lane. The car proceeds straight through the junction, veers into a lane for vehicles approaching from the opposite direction, and then swerves back over two solid yellow lines. Fortunately, the opposing traffic lane was empty at that moment.

Another video showed a vehicle braking sharply and repeatedly in the middle of a road, apparently reacting to police cars parked at the side with flashing lights. In a separate instance, a YouTuber who supports Tesla praised the robotaxi for travelling a few miles an hour faster than the legal speed limit. These documented instances of breaking traffic rules seem to have been the direct catalyst for the NHTSA's inquiry into the programme.

Musk's Vision Confronts Reality

For years, Elon Musk has sold a grand vision of an autonomous future. He has repeatedly promised that millions of driverless Teslas would soon populate cities across the globe. In 2019, he confidently predicted that Tesla would have a million autonomous robotaxis on the road by the following year. That deadline, and others, passed without fulfilment. In an April 2025 earnings call, Musk repeated his prediction, forecasting that countless Tesla vehicles would function with complete autonomy during the latter part of the next year.

The Austin launch, despite its small scale, was presented by Musk as a massive achievement and the result of a decade of intense work by Tesla's in-house teams. He has long argued that the company’s robotaxis will make driving significantly safer. However, the gap between these ambitious claims and the performance witnessed in Texas is now under intense scrutiny from both regulators and investors. The project's success is seen as crucial for Tesla's long-term valuation.

The company’s very worth, Musk has suggested, hinges on mastering autonomous technology. He has stated that without it, Tesla’s value is "basically zero". This high-stakes gamble makes the outcome of the NHTSA's investigation and the future performance of the robotaxi programme critically important. Many are now watching to see if this becomes another of the chief executive's unfulfilled promises.

Image Credit - BBC

The Regulatory Framework

The NHTSA operates a reactive, rather than preventative, regulatory model for new driving technologies. The agency does not grant pre-approval or certify systems like Tesla’s before they are used on public roads. Instead, the responsibility lies with manufacturers to self-certify that their automobiles adhere to federal motor vehicle safety standards. The NHTSA then investigates possible safety flaws as they arise, based on crash data and other reports.

In its statement regarding the Austin robotaxis, the agency reiterated its process. It will assess the information gathered from Tesla and other sources before deciding what action, if any, is necessary to protect public safety. The NHTSA confirmed its dedication to upholding the Vehicle Safety Act, employing its investigative methods that are informed by data and oriented around risk. This places the onus squarely on Tesla to prove its systems are safe.

This reactive approach has been described by some experts as a "regulatory vacuum", where technology deployment outpaces oversight. The incidents in Austin highlight the challenges of this model. Regulators were prompted to act only after potentially dangerous behaviour was shared publicly online. This has led to calls for more robust safety protocols before such technologies are widely deployed.

A History of Scrutiny

The current probe of the robotaxi service is not an isolated event. It adds to a growing list of federal investigations into Tesla’s automated driving systems. The NHTSA already has a significant, ongoing probe into the company’s "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) and Autopilot features. Since 2016, the agency has investigated at least 41 crashes involving Tesla vehicles on Autopilot, including 19 fatalities.

A key investigation, opened in 2024, focuses on how Tesla's systems perform in low-visibility conditions. This probe was prompted by four crashes that occurred in environments with sun glare, fog, or dust. One of these incidents, in November 2023, resulted in the death of a pedestrian in Rimrock, Arizona. A Tesla Model Y fatally hit a woman aged 71 who was reportedly operating with FSD engaged.

The driver of the vehicle in the Arizona crash told authorities that the setting sun was in their eyes, and they were not charged. The incident highlighted concerns that Tesla's camera-only system might be vulnerable in challenging light conditions. The NHTSA's investigation is assessing FSD's ability to detect and respond appropriately in such situations. The probe affects an estimated 2.4 million Tesla vehicles sold with the feature.

Financial Pressures and Public Image

The robotaxi programme has taken on heightened importance, becoming more significant for Tesla during the current year amid a challenging financial landscape. The company has faced falling sales and increased competition. During the initial three months of 2025, Tesla’s total revenue dropped by 9% year-on-year to $19.3 billion, while net profits plunged by a staggering 71%. The core automotive revenue saw a 20% decline.

This downturn is attributed to several factors, including lower average selling prices, production line upgrades, and growing competition in the electric vehicle market. Against this backdrop, Musk has positioned the robotaxi venture as a vital future source of revenue, capable of transforming Tesla into a mobility services giant. The success of this programme is therefore crucial to reassuring investors and justifying the company’s high valuation.

Compounding the financial challenges is the backlash against Musk's personal political statements and activities. His increasingly far-right political alignment has alienated some customers and investors, contributing to boycotts and a decline in sales, particularly in Europe. The robotaxi initiative is a key part of his strategy to pivot the narrative back to technological innovation and future growth.

The Influencer Strategy Questioned

Tesla’s decision to launch its robotaxi service with a select group of supportive social media influencers was a clear public relations strategy. The aim was to generate a wave of positive, first-hand accounts showcasing the technology's capabilities. Early reactions from this curated group were indeed positive, with some describing the rides as "smooth" and "normal". One prominent analyst who attended the launch called the experience "comfortable, safe, and personalized".

However, this strategy appears to have backfired. By providing unfiltered access to the technology, Tesla also enabled the documentation of its flaws. The very influencers chosen to promote the service became the source of the videos that captured the vehicles' erratic behaviour. This footage, shared widely on platforms like X and YouTube, quickly drew the attention of federal regulators and the media.

This outcome highlights the risks of using social media for controlled messaging around developing technology. In an environment where authenticity is prized and footage can be instantly shared globally, it is difficult to contain the narrative. The unfiltered reality of the robotaxis' performance, complete with glitches and traffic violations, ultimately overshadowed the intended positive promotion.

Image Credit - The Car Guide

The Paradox of the "Safety Driver"

The presence of a human "safety monitor" in the passenger seat of each robotaxi during the Austin launch presents a paradox. While intended as a safety measure, it also implicitly acknowledges that the system is not yet fully autonomous or reliable. It raises questions about Tesla's confidence in its own "Full Self-Driving" technology, which the company markets as "unsupervised".

This reliance on human oversight is a critical point of debate in the autonomous vehicle industry. Investigations into previous accidents involving automated systems have highlighted the "handoff problem". This refers to the difficulty humans have in remaining vigilant and ready to intervene when supervising a system that operates correctly most of the time. Complacency can set in, making it difficult for the human monitor to react quickly enough when the technology fails.

The role of these safety drivers underscores the gap that still exists between Tesla's branding and the current capabilities of its technology. While the goal is a vehicle that can operate entirely without human input, the reality in Austin was a system that still required a human safety net. This distinction is crucial for both regulatory assessment and public understanding of the technology's maturity.

The Broader Autonomous Race

The debut of Tesla's robotaxi service places it in direct competition with other established players in the autonomous vehicle space. Companies like Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, and Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, have been operating and refining their own robotaxi services for several years. Waymo, in particular, has a significant head start, having offered fully driverless rides to the public since 2020 and recently surpassing 10 million commercial trips.

A key difference lies in the underlying technology. Tesla controversially relies on a "vision-only" system, using eight cameras and sophisticated neural networks to interpret the environment. Musk claims this approach is more scalable and cost-effective. Competitors like Waymo, however, employ a suite of sensors including LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and radar alongside cameras. They argue this multi-sensor approach provides crucial redundancy and is more reliable, especially in poor visibility conditions like fog or heavy rain.

The performance issues in Austin have intensified the debate over these competing philosophies. Critics argue that relying solely on cameras presents fundamental limitations and risks, as demonstrated by the FSD investigation into crashes in low-visibility conditions. As Tesla pushes its system, the contest between its vision-only strategy and the multi-sensor approach of its rivals is becoming a defining battleground for what autonomous transport will become.

Eroding Public Trust

High-profile incidents of erratic behaviour, like those seen in Austin, can have a significant negative impact on public perception and trust in autonomous vehicle technology. For a technology that requires widespread public acceptance to succeed, safety is paramount. Each video showing a car driving on the wrong side of the road or braking erratically chips away at the confidence needed for people to feel safe hailing a driverless cab.

Elon Musk has consistently claimed that autonomous Teslas will be dramatically safer than human drivers. The data from the initial Austin rollout, however, introduces new risks and uncertainties. Safety advocates and some industry experts argue that the technology is being deployed prematurely, before it can reliably handle the complexities of real-world driving environments.

Building public trust requires a proven track record of safety and transparency from manufacturers. The close examination by the NHTSA and the public backlash following the Austin launch underscore the challenges Tesla faces in convincing a skeptical public. The road to a driverless future depends not only on technological advancement but also on demonstrating an unwavering commitment to public safety.

What Caused the Glitches?

The specific technical reasons behind the robotaxis' failures in Austin remain unclear. The erratic behaviour could stem from a variety of issues within Tesla's complex autonomous driving system. Potential causes include inaccuracies in the specialised mapping data created for the Austin area, software bugs in the latest version of the FSD system, or fundamental flaws in the AI's decision-making algorithms.

Autonomous driving systems are constantly challenged by "edge cases" – rare and unpredictable situations on the road that are difficult to program for. The video showing a car swerving after misjudging a turn could be an example of the system failing to handle such a scenario correctly. Similarly, the hard braking near police vehicles could indicate an over-cautious or confused response to an unusual visual cue.

Tesla's vision-only system must process immense amounts of visual data in real-time to make driving decisions. Any failure in object detection, trajectory prediction, or control logic can lead to the kinds of errors seen in the videos. A thorough investigation by Tesla and the NHTSA will be required to pinpoint the exact root causes and determine if the issues can be rectified with software updates or if they point to more fundamental hardware or system limitations.

The Path Forward

The NHTSA’s preliminary inquiry represents a critical juncture for Tesla's robotaxi ambitions. The potential outcomes range from a simple request for more data to a formal defect investigation, which could ultimately lead to a mandatory recall or a demand for significant software changes. The agency’s findings will have a major impact on whether Tesla can continue, pause, or must redesign its robotaxi rollout.

The incidents in Austin encapsulate the enduring tension between the rapid pace of technological innovation and the necessarily more cautious approach of safety regulation. Elon Musk is pushing aggressively to launch a technology he believes will be revolutionary. Regulators, however, are now compelled to intervene to ensure public safety is not compromised in the process.

For Tesla, the path forward is fraught with challenges. The company must not only address the specific technical glitches identified in Austin but also navigate intense regulatory scrutiny and work to rebuild public confidence. The dream of a million-strong robotaxi fleet remains a distant prospect. The immediate reality is a small-scale trial that has hit a significant bump in the road, placing what comes next for Tesla's autonomous vision under a powerful microscope.