Details Leak Around Tesla’s Robotaxi Deployment
Plus, China cracks down on AV marketing after Xiaomi SU7 crash.
Welcome to the Ride AI newsletter: your weekly digest of news and intelligence at the intersection of technology and transportation.
What You Need to Know This Week
Details are beginning to emerge ahead of Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi launch in Austin, scheduled for next month. A report from Morgan Stanley suggests that the initial rollout will include just 10 to 20 vehicles and will involve lots of teleoperations. The service will be available on an invite-only basis, though it remains unclear how those invites will be distributed. Notably, the report also states that the exact launch date is still uncertain.
What is clear, however, is that Tesla understands the high stakes. The small scale of the launch and the careful, measured approach signal that Tesla knows it cannot afford any missteps. The success of this pilot could significantly influence public confidence in Tesla’s execution capabilities. Perhaps even more critically, it will shape industry perceptions of the viability of Tesla’s camera-only autonomy approach, which continues to set the company apart from others relying on LiDAR or sensor fusion.
In short: June could be make or break for Tesla, and many will be watching closely—including me, popcorn in hand.
Meanwhile in China, regulators are moving swiftly in response to escalating concerns around exaggerated autonomous vehicle marketing. On April 16, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened a meeting in Beijing with officials from more than 60 companies operating in the autonomous vehicle space. The catalyst: a deadly crash involving a Xiaomi SU7, which was operating in driver assistance mode when it collided with a concrete barrier and caught fire, killing three people.
According to reports, the vehicle had been traveling at 116 km/h (72 mph) and only slowed to 97 km/h (60 mph) upon impact. The driver was reportedly warned to take control just two seconds before the crash, prompting widespread public outcry over whether that warning came too late. Online, tech influencers have since posted videos testing various brands’ autonomous features on public roads, further fueling scrutiny.
The SU7 crash exposed a troubling trend: Chinese manufacturers have been aggressively marketing “L2+” systems, a term that is not officially recognized by SAE standards. While SAE Level 3 is not legally permitted nationwide in China, the vague “L2+” label has allowed companies to make bold claims about advanced autonomy—encouraging consumers to become dangerously complacent behind the wheel.
As a result, the Chinese government is now enforcing stricter controls. Automakers will be required to use only official SAE autonomy designations and will be prohibited from using terms like: “Advanced Smart Driving,” “Autonomous Driving,” and “Full Self Driving (FSD).”
It’s important to note that although L3 is not nationally legal, local municipalities can grant testing permits for SAE L3 and higher systems. Robotaxi services (SAE L4) operate under a similar municipal framework.
In other China news, Huaneng Ruichi has deployed what it claims is the world’s largest fleet of unmanned electric mining trucks at the Yimin open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia. The state-backed company has rolled out over 100 autonomous haul trucks, with plans to scale up to 300 by 2028.
These trucks are powered by Huawei’s Commercial Vehicle Autonomous Driving Cloud Service and operate on a 5G-Advanced network—the same infrastructure used by Huawei’s ADAS-powered vehicles.
While the scale is impressive, it’s worth noting that key details remain undisclosed, including the actual autonomy level of the vehicles and the extent of remote operator oversight.
As with many announcements from Chinese state-affiliated entities, these claims should be approached with healthy skepticism. Still, even with limited transparency, this project marks a significant milestone in the global development of industrial autonomous systems.
Seven-Eleven Japan has launched a pilot program to test autonomous delivery robots on public roads in the Hachioji area of Tokyo. The robots, co-developed by Suzuki Motors Corp. and Lomby Inc., will operate from two stores in the area and can be summoned through the 7NOW app. The initiative is aimed at assisting customers who have difficulty shopping.
It’s somewhat surprising that Japan is only now beginning to adopt delivery robots, given the country’s well-documented demographic challenges. Japan faces a rapidly aging population, with life expectancy continuing to rise year after year. This has placed increasing pressure on social services. Compounding the issue is a severe shortage of truck drivers, as fewer young people are entering the workforce. In such a context, automating low-skill, repetitive tasks like short-distance food delivery seems like an obvious and necessary step forward.
In Other News…
UK driverless cars coming in 2027, but Uber says it’s ready now
Aurora puts safety driver back in cab at the request of commercialization partner PACCAR
Alright, that’s it from me… until next week!
Do you think that autonomous delivery robots might be profitable? I mean, is cost the main argument for deploying these tools, or is it the traffic reduction?