Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on social media that the company will unveil its robotaxi product on August 8, prompting a more than 3% increase in Tesla’s shares during extended trading, CNBC reports.
The robotaxi project has been long anticipated and could potentially become a significant new business for Tesla amidst concerns from investors about slowing growt. However, the automaker has yet to deliver on Musk’s promises of achieving full autonomy in Tesla cars within three years. The company currently offers advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) options, the latter of which requires a human driver behind the wheel.
Meanwhile, other companies like Waymo and Didi are already operating commercial autonomous vehicle services, while some competitors in the autonomous vehicle market have faced setbacks, such as Apple shutting down its self-driving unit and GM’s Cruise service being grounded following regulatory scrutiny.
