Tesla has officially unveiled its Robotaxi Cybercab, a long-awaited and highly-anticipated fully autonomous vehicle that the company says will revolutionize passenger travel, Teslarati reports.
Tesla held the presentation at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, and broadcast it live via X. Jump to minute 53 for the actual start.
Elon Musk arrived in a Cybercab, riding in the passenger seat (of course).
Musk said that the Cybercab will enter production before 2027 and will cost less than $30,000.
Musk Musk also presented a larger, self-driving vehicle, called Robovan, capable of carrying up to 20 people.
The event at Warner Bros. Studios was named "We, Robot." This name, which is now also a tab in Tesla's corporate website, seems to indicate that Tesla sees fully autonomous robotic vehicles powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a key part of its future.
Reuters reports that Tesla hasn't given "concrete details on how quickly Tesla can ramp up robotaxi production, secure regulatory approval and implement a strong business plan," and investors have been disappointed.
However, this seems an important milestone and the very successful history of Tesla gives reason to believe that the same investors will be very happy with their investment one day.
AI-powered cars on the road
Wired reports that Tesla uses just cameras, rather than a series of sensors, to orient its vehicles in space. "Tesla’s techniques combine this visual-based data with artificial intelligence to allow their vehicles to make 'decisions' on the road."
Tesla is the leading electric car maker. But Must wants more. He wants, it appears, to make Tesla a leader in AI-powered self-driving cars.
"Musk put the Cybercab at the center of an idyllic vision of the future," The Wall Street Journal reports (here's an unpaywalled copy of the WSJ article).
Before too long, we could have a phone app that summons an AI-powered, self-driving Tesla Cybercab on demand (just like we do with the Uber app today, but without the driver). After the ride, we would just leave the car on the road. A question that comes immediately to mind is, who needs to own a private car at that point?