Tesla’s “We, Robot” robotaxi event: biggest news and announcements

Tesla’s “We, Robot” robotaxi event is happening at the Warner Bros. movie studio film lot in Burbank, Calif., where CEO is expected to announce the company’s first, fully driverless vehicle.

Musk will also share more details about the Tesla Network, the company’s autonomous ridehailing service that will serve as a platform for Tesla’s autonomous technology.

For years, Musk has been promising that a driverless Tesla vehicle was just “two years away.” Many delays later, Musk will finally have to show fans and investors what he’s been working on. The “We, Robot” even is a referendum on whether Musk can deliver real self-driving technology that can compete with robotaxi companies like Waymo and Cruise.

Along with the robotaxi, Tesla is expected to provide updates on its humanoid Optimus robot — after all the event is titled “We, Robot,” a reference to Isaac Asimov’s seminal work I, Robot. Tesla might also show one of its mystery vehicles — a van or a cheaper car that could compete with China’s growing affordable EV market.

Whatever Tesla announces at the event, you can find our in our live coverage below.

  • Trump: we’re going to stop autonomous cars.

    In a speech in Detroit, former President Donald Trump seemed to suggest that he would “stop [self-driving cars] from operating” if he was elected in November. Not exactly the message his pal Elon Musk wants to hear on the eve of his big Tesla robotaxi event in Hollywood. Maybe Trump’s invitation was lost in the mail.

  • Tesla is about to reveal its self-driving robotaxi, a purpose-built autonomous vehicle that’s supposed to reposition the company as a leader in AI and robotics.

    The new robotaxi will be revealed at Warner Bros. movie studios in Burbank, California, where Tesla has reportedly been collecting fresh mapping data in the lead-up to the event. Tesla has a lot of ground to cover to prove it can launch a driverless vehicle that can compete with robotaxi rivals like Waymo and Cruise. And Elon Musk is expected to outline his vision for the Tesla Network, in which Tesla owners can add their autonomous vehicles to a robotaxi fleet when they’re not using them.

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  • ‘I have significant doubts.’

    That’s what Aurora CEO (and ex-Google self-driving car project lead) Chris Urmson had to say about Elon Musk’s technological approach to autonomous vehicles. Musk is gearing up to reveal Tesla’s first robotaxi at an event in Hollywood Thursday. But Urmson’s been working on this problem for his entire career, having led Carnegie Mellon’s team during the original DARPA challenges. Listen to this interview to get a more thoughtful idea of the challenges of autonomous driving.

  • Illustration of Tesla robotaxis.

    Illustration of Tesla robotaxis.
    Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Turbosquid

    For almost as long as he’s been CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk has been bullshitting us about self-driving cars. 

    In 2016, he said Tesla self-driving cars were “two years away.” A year later, it was “six months, definitely,” and customers would be able to actually sleep in their Tesla in “two years.” In 2018, it was still a “year away” and would be “200 percent safer” than human driving. In 2019, he said there would be “feature complete full self-driving this year.” There hasn’t been a year go by without Musk promising the imminent arrival of a fully driverless Tesla. 

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  • The Tesla robotaxi sounds small.

    Bloomberg reports that the soon-to-be-unveiled purpose-built driverless vehicle will have “two front seats and two doors that open upward like butterfly wings,” citing sources familiar. That would square with the concept art we saw in Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk biography. Tesla could also announce an autonomous van, and Full Self-Driving capabilities for its Semi trucks.

  • Tesla sends out “We, Robot” invitations for its robotaxi event in October.

    I’m not sure if this counts as Hollywood magic yet, but this is how Tesla’s promoting its robotaxi unveiling event. Elon Musk had announced an August date for the event, but then it was pushed back until October 10th.

    The invitations say that remarks will begin at 7PM PT, if you’d like to clear some time in your schedule.

    Graphic showing an optical sensor and the words “We, Robot”

    Graphic showing an optical sensor and the words “We, Robot”
    Image: Tesla (X)

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