(Thomas Fuller/Getty Images)

Tesla moved its “robotaxi” to the Bay Area and put a driver in the driver’s seat

Tesla doesn’t need a permit to have a human drive you around with supervised Full Self-Driving.

7/31/25 1:15PM

Tesla’s overhype machine continues to turn out the hits.

Earlier this month, when asked about Tesla’s autonomous ride service, CEO Elon Musk said the company’s limited Austin robotaxi service would be expanding to the Bay Area, pending regulatory approvals. Tesla doesn’t have those permits yet and correspondence between the company and California’s autonomous DMV branch viewed by Politico never use the word “robotaxi.” Tesla and Musk have made an announcement, nonetheless.

Today Musk said, “You can now ride-hail a Tesla in the SF Bay Area, in addition to Austin.” Pay attention to the language. People can now use Tesla’s Robotaxi app to ride-hail a Tesla. That Tesla will have a person in the driver’s seat touching the steering wheel. In other words, you can pay for a person to drive you around in a Tesla, using the company’s supervised Full Self-Driving software, which requires a driver to be in the seat, notably, and hold the wheel. That’s a far cry from true autonomous driving and something that basically already exists if you were to get in an Uber or a consumer’s Tesla that has enabled supervised Full Self-Driving in the state.

Below is a video posted yesterday from Tesla influencer Teslaconomics. Using the Robotaxi app, he summoned a Tesla with a driver in the driver’s seat. You’ll see the driver’s hands remain hovering on or near the steering wheel the whole time. It doesn’t have Robotaxi signage.

My first Tesla Robotaxi ride in the Bay Area, CA! 🔥 https://t.co/arZykKfNbZ
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) July 31, 2025

Also, the “you” who can now ride-hail in this case seems to mean friends and family of Tesla employees, or invited members of the public. The automaker’s Austin service was similarly not fully open to all potential customers. The Austin service was also not fully autonomous driving. Under the program Tesla operates there, a safety monitor who can stop the vehicle sits in the front passenger seat for every ride, and tele-operators can take over remotely.

Rani Molla3h

“Tesla killer” Slate Auto switches CEOs ahead of launch later this year

Just months before the expected launch of its $25,000 truck, so-called “Tesla killer” Slate Auto has swapped out its CEO. Former Amazon Marketplace Vice President Peter Faricy is the new leader of the Jeff Bezos-backed company, while the previous CEO, Chris Barman, one of the electric truck maker’s first employees, is now president of vehicles.

“ The marketplace component is really important to us. Being able to understand how to sell things in the 21st century is really important because we're gonna be direct to consumer, without dealerships,” Jeff Jablansky, head of communications at Slate, said of the change. “The way Chris put it is, we are adding horsepower at a critical moment when people are going to be able to actually order their trucks.”

In a social media post just last month, then CEO Barman said the company would unveil the exact price tag for its Blank Slate, which goes on sale late in 2026, in June, but reaffirmed it will be in the mid-$20,000s.

Bezos-backed Slate Auto hires new, ex-Amazon CEO

Rani Molla6h

Amazon’s autonomous ride-hailing service now testing in 10 markets

Amazon self-driving subsidiary Zoox announced Monday that it’s testing in two additional markets, Phoenix and Dallas, bringing its total to 10 US markets. The company will begin by mapping select neighborhoods using retrofitted Toyota Highlander SUVs with safety drivers behind the wheel, before progressing to autonomous testing and eventually rolling out its steering-wheel-less, purpose-built vehicles for public users.

The service is currently available to the public in Las Vegas and to select users in the Bay Area, where it’s served 300,000 riders.

Zoox is also opening a third “Fusion Center” facility, in Arizona after Las Vegas and the Bay Area, from which it will provide assistance and coordinate operations for its fleet.

Zoox’s expansion comes as Alphabet’s Waymo recently reached its 10th public market and as Tesla’s Robotaxi says it plans to open in six new markets in the first half of the year.

Zoox is expanding and preparing to bring service to Dallas and Phoenix | Zoox

The service is currently available to the public in Las Vegas and to select users in the Bay Area, where it’s served 300,000 riders.

Zoox is also opening a third “Fusion Center” facility, in Arizona after Las Vegas and the Bay Area, from which it will provide assistance and coordinate operations for its fleet.

Zoox’s expansion comes as Alphabet’s Waymo recently reached its 10th public market and as Tesla’s Robotaxi says it plans to open in six new markets in the first half of the year.

Jon Keegan6h

Microsoft will use Anthropic’s Claude to power “Copilot Cowork”

Microsoft is partnering with Anthropic to power its new agentic offering, Copilot Cowork. The AI world is abuzz with agents that can do your busywork for you, and Anthropic’s Claude Cowork is one of the most prominent and capable offerings in the field.

The tech giant wrote:

“Working closely with Anthropic, we have integrated the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is this multi-model advantage that makes Copilot different. Your work is not limited by one brand of models.”

Microsoft listed some examples of how Copilot Cowork could help with common tasks such as rescheduling meetings, sending emails, researching companies, working with spreadsheets, and making presentations.

It’s worth stepping back to note how wild it is that Microsoft, the productivity software behemoth that has absolutely dominated the business world for decades, has had to turn to an AI startup to control those apps.

Copilot Cowork: A new way of getting work done | Microsoft 365 Blog

“Working closely with Anthropic, we have integrated the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot. It is this multi-model advantage that makes Copilot different. Your work is not limited by one brand of models.”

Rani Molla6h

China’s smartphone slump could strengthen Apple

China smartphone shipments fell 22% year over year in January, according to a new Bernstein research note. The drop was partly due to the timing of Lunar New Year and tough comparisons with last year, when government subsidies boosted sales, but rising memory costs are also weighing on demand — especially in the lower-end segment dominated by Chinese brands.

Low-tier shipments fell 37%, hitting brands like Honor and Vivo particularly hard, while high-end sales from Apple and Huawei held up better. Overall average selling prices rose 13%.

That could be good news for Apple, which sits at the more price-insulated upper end of the Chinese market and has been making a comeback in the country. Apple’s market share grew to 18% in January — in line with Huawei — from 14% a year earlier, while the rest of the market fell 2 percentage points to 65%.

With its scale and industry-leading margins, the iPhone maker is better positioned to absorb higher memory costs. To wit: it recently unveiled the $599 iPhone 17e, which keeps its entry price steady with its predecessor while doubling storage.

Rani Molla

Alphabet ties a portion of Sundar Pichai’s pay to Waymo for the first time

By tying up to $260 million of its CEO’s pay to Waymo, Alphabet is making clear the autonomous vehicle unit is no longer just an “Other Bet.”