It was used by Tesla for the purposes of the Robotaxis test on Sunday, June 22, 2025 on Ortorf Street, Austin, Texas, USA.
Tim Guessman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
On this week’s revenue call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased the expansion of his company’s fledgling Robotaxi services to the San Francisco Gulf region and other US markets.
However, California regulators have made it clear that Tesla is not permitted to carry passengers on public roads of self-driving cars, and that human drivers are always in control at all times.
“Tesla is not permitted to test or transport publicly available (paid or unpaid) in AVs with or without a driver,” the California Utilities Commission told CNBC in an email Friday. “Tesla is permitted to transport the public (paid or unpaid) non-AV. Of course, there are drivers.”
In other words, Tesla services in the state must be taxis rather than robots.
Tesla has what is known in California as a charter party carrier permit. This allows you to operate your own car services with human drivers, just like limousine companies and tourism services.
The committee said Thursday from Tesla is planning to “expand operations” to “provide services” in most parts of the Bay Area, “service friends and staff members and choose public members.”
However, under Tesla’s permission, the service could only be non-AVS, the CPUC said.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles told CNBC that Tesla has “driver’s license test permits” since 2014, and the company can operate AVS with safety drivers, but could not collect fees. According to the DMV, the safety driver must be a Tesla employee, contractor or manufacturer nominator under that permit.
In Austin, Texas, Tesla is currently testing its Robotaxi services using its Model Y SUV, which features the company’s latest automated driving software and hardware. Limited service operates on roads with speed limits of 40 mph during the day and during the weather.
Austin’s Robotaxis is supervised far away by Tesla employees and includes a human safety supervisor in the passenger seat. This service is currently limited to invited users who agree to the terms of Tesla’s “Early Access Program.”
On Friday, Business Insider cited an internal Tesla memo, reporting that Tesla told staff he plans to expand its Robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay area this weekend. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
In another California issue, DMV accused Tesla of being a misleading consumer of the capabilities of driver assistance systems previously sold under the name Autopilot and Fully Autonomous Driving (or FSD).
Tesla currently calls its premium driver assistance feature “FSD Director.” In the owner’s manual, Tesla says that autopilot and FSD monitoring is a “practical” system, with the wheel drivers always ready to pilot or brake.
However, in the user-generated video that Tesla shares on X, the company shows customers using FSD hands-free while engaging in other tasks. The DMV claims that Tesla’s licenses for selling vehicles in California should be suspended, and discussions are underway at the state’s Oakland administrative hearing until Friday.
California law regulates autonomous taxi services at the state level. Officials from some cities and counties said Friday they were out of the loop regarding the state’s potential Tesla services.
Stephanie Moulton Petter, a member of the Marine County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview that he had never heard of the plan from Tesla. She urged the company to be more transparent.
“I certainly expect them to say to us, and I think it’s a good business habit to do it,” she said.
Moulton-Peters said he was generally undecided about Robotaxis and didn’t know how Marin County, located north of San Francisco, would respond to Tesla’s services.
“News of change always brings mixed results in the community,” she said.
Brian Colbert, another member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said in an interview that he was open to the idea that Tesla’s service was good, but was disappointed by the lack of communication.
“They should have done a better job of letting the community know about the launch,” he said.
alphabet Waymo, which is far ahead of Tesla in the Robotaxi market, obtained many permits from the DMV and CPUC before launching unmanned ride services in the state.
Waymo was granted permission to deploy CPUC driverless in 2023, allowing them to request vehicles in the state. The company is seeking amendments to driverless deployment permits for both DMV and CPUCs to expand the service area within the state.
-NBC’s David Ingram was reported from San Francisco.
Watch: Waymo Testing Self-Driving Cars with Human Drivers in New York and Philadelphia
