Home
Keep track of advancements in every frontier

TheTechno Optimist.

OptimusTesla—CybercabTesla—CybercabTesla—Full Self-Driving (Supervised)Tesla—Tesla—OptimusTesla—CybercabTesla—Tesla RobotaxiTesla—Full Self-Driving (Supervised)Tesla—Tesla RobotaxiTesla—CybercabTesla—Full Self-Driving (Supervised)Tesla—Tesla RobotaxiTesla—Tesla RobotaxiTesla—OptimusTesla—CybercabTesla—Tesla RobotaxiTesla—Full Self-Driving (Supervised)Tesla—

Tesla

EVs, FSD, Robotaxi, Cybercab, Optimus

USpublicest. 2003tesla.com (opens tesla.com)Checked 25 Sep

The brief

Analyst view
  • Robotaxi went from a supervised Austin pilot (June 2025) to rides with no safety monitor in six Texas and Florida cities by July 2026.
  • Cybercab, with no steering wheel or pedals, began low-rate production in Texas and started rolling out in Austin on 3 Sept 2026.
  • Fremont's Model S/X line ended in May 2026 and is being turned into the first Optimus production line.

Technical approach

As reported
Vision only

Cameras, no lidar or HD maps

Eight cameras and neural networks do the driving. The bet: vision plus lots of data can match humans without costly lidar or HD maps.

End-to-end

One network from pixels to controls

Since FSD v12 (2024), a single neural network turns camera video into steering and pedal commands, replacing hand-written driving code.

Fleet data

Millions of cars as sensors

Customer cars capture rare, tricky moments, which are labelled automatically and used to retrain the models on big GPU clusters.

Unboxed manufacturing

Cybercab assembly

Cybercab is built in chunks that are assembled in parallel and joined late, to cut factory space and cost per car.

Programs

Tesla, four programs

Updated 4 Sep 2026
Tesla RobotaxiTesla's own ride-hailing service using Model Ys, and now Cybercabs, driving on FSD inside set zones. It started with safety monitors in 2025 and began removing them in Austin in January 2026.PilotNextExpand unsupervised fleet and citiesUpdated 3 Sep 2026View program →Full Self-Driving (Supervised)Tesla's driver-assist software that steers, brakes and navigates on streets and highways, sold outright or by subscription. The driver must stay alert (SAE Level 2); the same tech runs Robotaxi.ScalingNextUnsupervised FSD for personal carsUpdated 29 Jun 2026View program →CybercabA two-seat self-driving car with butterfly doors and no steering wheel or pedals, built only for Tesla's Robotaxi service and designed to be cheap to make.PilotNextVolume production ramp · 2027Updated 4 Sep 2026View program →OptimusA two-legged humanoid robot using Tesla-made motors, hands and the same AI approach as FSD, for Tesla factories first and later for sale. A Fremont line is designed for 1 million a year.ProtoNextOptimus V3 reveal and production start · 2026Updated 20 Aug 2026View program →
Research · Proto · Pilot · Deploy · Scaling

Research & demos

3 items

Open technical problems

Open · Active · Partial
  • Rare-event safety with cameras onlyActive research

    Glare, rain or dirt can blind cameras. Proving a camera-only car is safer than humans in rare events needs billions of miles of evidence.

  • Scaling without safety monitorsActive research

    Removing monitors and growing service zones needs remote-help systems, regulator sign-off and a safety record that holds up to scrutiny.

  • Humanoid dexterity and reliabilityActive research

    Optimus's hands and motors must do useful factory work reliably and cheaply; the design has around 10,000 unique parts.

Upcoming catalysts

Company-wide
  • 2027First outside sales of Optimus, which Tesla says could start as early as the second half of 2027Optimusby ~15 mo

Peers

Robotaxis · 6

Company & funding

HQ
US
Founded
2003

Partners & customers

3 suppliers · 1 partner

People

Key people
Primer