Tesla announces Hollywood Robotaxi event as it breaks with unveiling venue traditions

Tesla has started sending out invitations to shareholders for the Robotaxi event attendance lottery, and the unveiling will indeed take place in Los Angeles, just as rumored.

While it didn't specify the exact venue, recent reports pegged the sprawling Warner Bros. film studio as the most likely candidate. A tangential evidence that this might indeed be the case is that Tesla has been mapping the whole Area 4 around the studio more intensely in the past few weeks.

A big flashy Hollywood-style demonstration of the autonomous driving abilities of its Robotaxi around town would explain all these choices and actions, and Tesla leaves the impression that attendance space is limited. 

Tesla will conduct a random drawing to determine its stockholders’ eligibility to attend its 10/10 Event in person. The drawing will be held strictly in accordance with these 10/10 Event Drawing Terms (“Terms”) and no exceptions will be made. Participation is voluntary and does not create a legal partnership, agency or other relationship between an entrant and Tesla. Entries must be made by September 17, 2024, at 11:59 PM Central Time. Incomplete applications, or attempted applications by means other than through the online application form, will not be considered.

If the Robotaxi event focuses on demonstrations rather than a simple presentation, and the self-driving showcase takes place on the Warner Bros. studio grounds, or the surrounding roads, that would explain the limited space for attendance, as well as the intense region mapping.

Tesla will also need to demo how the Cybercab ride-share service, whose fleet would include both Robotaxis and other Teslas, would function in practice. Moreover, its AI team roadmap pegged October as the release month for the next FSD 13 update, which is somewhat surprising given that FSD 12.5 just began rolling out.

If FSD 13 is what ties the Robotaxi with the personal or Tesla-owned vehicles that will collectively form the Cybercab fleet, that would explain why it may be announced at the event and released next month to willing owners. Tesla moved the festivity from August to October in order to introduce a more futuristic Robotaxi, as well as announce "a few other things," so that's when it may detail FSD 13 and the Cybercab fleet arrangements indeed.

Elon Musk is on record saying that a ride-share section will be available in the app, and Tesla will take a cut for providing and maintaining the platform to those owners who'd wish to loan their cars to the fleet for any length of time. How will all of that work in practice, however, remains to be heard on October 10.

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