“If another company did that, it would be stopped immediately”: Tesla launches her Robotaxi … without a license or autonomy

It’s been years since Elon Musk promises a car without a driver. In July 2025, the extension of the Robotaxi service from Austin to San Francisco could have marked this turning point. Except that in fact, no Tesla circulates alone in the Californian streets. And for good reason: Tesla has neither the law nor the technology to offer a level 4 service. What the documents obtained by Politicoit is a methodical bypass of the rules, masked by a well -offed storytelling.

Tesla wants to give the impression that autonomy is there

Tesla cars circulating in the Bay of San Francisco are not independent. They embark a human driver, sometimes relegated to the passenger seat in Austin, but there to supervise driving. It is not a level 4 system – capable of operating without human intervention – but of the supervised FSD, already sold to individuals. And yet, Elon Musk’s message on July 30 leaves no room for doubt.

At no time does he mention the presence of a driver. No words either on the absence of a permit. For the distracted observer, Tesla has just launched a Robotaxi. However, this service is not based on any authorization issued by the DMV or the CPUC.

Documents that reveal a double speech

While Musk multiplies public announcements, the documents obtained by Politico reveal a much more cautious posture on the regulatory side. In the exchanges between Tesla and the autonomous vehicle branch of the DMV, over more than a year, the term “robotaxi” never appears – neither in emails, nor in letters, nor even in invitations to meetings.

An absence that is not by chance. As long as Tesla avoids this word, it is held at a distance from the strict regulatory perimeter supervising autonomous level 4 vehicles. On the facade, communication maintains the illusion of a revolution; In official exchanges, everything is done not to alert the authorities.

And yet, in these same documents, Tesla recognizes black on white as any autonomous transport service, even with a safety driver, requires an authorization. In April 2025, Casey Blaine, company regulatory adviser, written in the DMV: “We understand that autonomous carpooling operations, with or without safety driver, require additional permits.”

To stay in the nails, Tesla describes to the authorities a service limited to its “Employees, friends and family”. But in reality, the launch took place via the Robotaxi application, on a much wider territory than this limited circle. On the surface, it is a test. In practice, it is a make -up service.

From Austin to San Francisco, the same methods

Tesla has already tested the formula in Austin, where each race is billed $ 4.20. Again, vehicles are driven by a human, even if the passenger can believe in a rootaxi. The state of Texas does not require a specific permit in Tesla for these vague uses. California is framing much more.

But this is not the first time that the company has played with the line. In 2024, the Project Rodeo internal program had already caused a reminder to order. According to Business Insiderdrivers were encouraged to let the FSD go as far as its limits before intervening. The DMV had recalled that “Autonomous vehicles cannot be tested or deployed without a license issued by the Department”.

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