Elon Musk made a huge robotaxi promise. Now investors are asking what happened

Elon Musk made a huge robotaxi promise. Now investors are asking what happened On Wednesday's earnings call, Musk and his executive team struck a more guarded tone about AI - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments A year after Elon Musk predicted Tesla's robotaxi service would spread across half the United States by the end of 2025, the company's self-driving revolution is moving far more slowly than promised. During Tesla's latest earnings call, Musk and his executives faced tough questions from analysts over a rollout that has fallen well short of the company's ambitious projections. Since launching a small robotaxi pilot in Austin in June 2025, Tesla has expanded only to a handful of cities in Texas and Florida, with service largely confined to quieter neighborhoods on the outskirts rather than busy downtown areas. Tesla said paying customers have logged 2.5 million miles in its robotaxis, including 380,000 miles without an in-vehicle safety monitor. But that remains a fraction of rival Waymo's more than 220 million autonomous miles through March, a gap Forrester analyst Paul Miller said highlights Alphabet's commanding lead in commercial self-driving technology. Barclays analysts also noted that Tesla's supposed edge—its ability to scale quickly—has instead become a source of frustration for many investors, who increasingly view the rollout as slow. Much of Tesla's sky-high valuation is built on expectations that robotaxis and its Optimus humanoid robots will one day become the company's biggest money-makers. Even after a nearly 17% drop this year, Tesla shares still trade at more than 166 times forward earnings estimates, far above most automakers and major technology companies. The slower rollout marks a noticeable shift from Musk's earlier confidence. He had previously described Tesla's technology as "a general solution that works anywhere," contrasting it with Waymo's methodical city-by-city expansion. Now, Tesla executives say reality has proved more complicated. Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy said regulations vary from city to city, requiring the company to tackle each market individually. "Regulatory situations are different city by city," Moravy said. "The reason we're expanding city by city is to make sure that we're meeting all of those one at a time." Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said Tesla is still working through operational and software "kinks" and wants to iron them out with a small, controlled fleet before dramatically expanding. Analysts pressed executives on why the fleet still numbers only in the dozens rather than the hundreds. Tesla's vice president of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, argued the company is seeing "literally exponential" growth in robotaxi miles but said it is still in the very early stages. Musk insisted Tesla is determined to expand as quickly as possible without compromising safety. "We want to grow as fast as possible with robotaxi, without harm to anyone," he said. In January, Tesla projected its robotaxi service would be operating in seven metro areas by the end of June, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Las Vegas. By this week, the company had launched only in Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa and Orlando, with service areas in each city remaining limited to less-trafficked neighborhoods. Reuters also found long wait times and, at times, no vehicles available during tests of the service in Dallas and Houston, underscoring the challenges Tesla still faces as it tries to turn Musk's robotaxi vision into reality. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments