Tesla applies for Robotaxi ride-hailing license, but with human drivers

Tesla’s robotaxi service plans might be coming together as it files for a ride-hailing permit in California. According to Bloomberg, the company applied for a “transportation charter-party carrier permit” from the California Public Utilities Commission in late 2024.

The license will allow Tesla to compete with the likes of Waymo and Uber, with the latter’s CEO confirming that Tesla snubbed his company and decided to develop its ride-hailing platform in-house. However, Tesla’s discussions with officials included driver’s license information and drug testing, suggesting human drivers will be involved. The nature of the permit also means Tesla will own the cars instead of individual drivers.

Waymo also operates a driverless ride-hailing service in several locations, including Metro Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, and Los Angeles. However, a Tesla spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the automaker has not applied for or been granted a permit for driverless testing or deployment.

Tesla, however, has revealed it will launch its Unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) in Austin, Texas, in June with the Cybercab as a paid service. Although it has not received regulatory approval anywhere, CEO Elon Musk promises to launch the autonomous ride-hailing service in many cities in the US before the end of the year.