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Hey everybody. 
Welcome back to the Elon Musk 

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Podcast. 
This is a show where we discuss 

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the critical crossroads that 
shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The 

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Boring Company and Neurolink. 
I'm your host, Will Walden. 

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Tesla just took the next step in
its robo taxi roll out by 

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officially launching A dedicated
ride Hamming app and opening 

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access to the service for the 
public in a growing number of 

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U.S. cities. 
The company moved from limited 

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internal tests to a broader 
pilot program that now lets 

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regular users hail self driving 
Teslas through a stand alone 

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app. 
That shift raises one big 

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question though. 
How does Tesla plan to scale 

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this while still being years 
away from regulatory approval 

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for full autonomy? 
Now Tesla made the new robotaxi 

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experience available in select 
locations, including parts of 

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Austin and San Francisco, where 
it already had heavy full Self 

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driving beta penetration. 
Users can now download the test 

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the Ribotaxi app, request rides,
and experience a system in 

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vehicles that still include a 
safety driver. 

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Tesla quietly confirmed the 
launch during its most recent 

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event, but is letting the app 
speak for itself and has the 

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same clean interface as Tesla's 
car UI, and its back end is 

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reportedly built on top of the 
existing Tesla app 

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infrastructure. 
Now, Tesla designed the system 

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to mimic the flow of Uber or 
Lyft with trip estimates, driver

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rival tracking, and an option to
rate the experience. 

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What it doesn't have as a fully 
autonomous vehicle yet though, 

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Tesla still requires a person to
monitor behind the wheel, and in

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most cases, that driver can 
intervene instantly. 

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That reality hasn't stopped Elon
Musk from saying publicly that 

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robo taxis will soon be the core
of Tesla's revenue model. 

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Internally, Tesla teams are 
treating the soft launch as a 

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real world simulation of what 
the final service might look 

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like. 
This isn't just another rollout,

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though. 
Tesla filed to operate as a 

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transportation network company 
at TNC in multiple states, 

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including California and Texas. 
To legally run a commercial ride

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Handling service of that legal 
framework means Tesla now has to

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play by the same operational 
rules as Uber and Lyft, 

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including safety monitoring, 
incident reporting, and vehicle 

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compliance standards. 
Tesla is currently operating 

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under a limited pilot 
designation which allows for 

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human supervised testing without
the fully autonomy certification

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that Cruz and Waymo had to 
obtain. 

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You know, Musk keep saying full 
autonomy is just around the 

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corner, but that corner keeps 
moving. 

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Tesla has yet to prove that it's
FSD stack can handle every 

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driving scenario without 
intervention. 

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In a recent months, the company 
has started emphasizing 

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supervised autonomy instead, 
framing the robotaxi program as 

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a way to collect scale data 
while still having a human on 

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board, and the current app 
rollout reflects that shift. 

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Tesla is gathering real world 
user behavior, right acceptance 

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data, and edge case driving 
scenarios while still operating 

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within legal limits. 
Tesla stock reacted immediately 

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to this launch, of course, with 
bulls pointing to the app as the

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first clear sign that Tesla is 
moving beyond hardware sales. 

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Tesla can convince regulators, 
investors, and consumers that 

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its software can generate ride 
hailing revenue at scale that 

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would validate years of promises
by Elon Musk. 

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The company has long argued that
its valuation depends less on 

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cars sold and more on monetizing
autonomous models. 

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And with the app in market, 
Tesla can now start showing real

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usage numbers, even if they 
still come with a human 

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chaperone on board. 
Now critics point out that other

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self driving companies have 
already been Tesla to full 

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autonomy, at least in limited 
zones. 

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Waymo and crews received permits
for fully driverless operations 

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in parts of San Francisco and 
Phoenix. 

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Tesla, meanwhile, still operates
with a safety driver in every 

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robo taxi. 
And the difference is Tesla's 

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decision to skip lidar and HD 
mapping in favor of a provision 

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approach, which it claims will 
scale more easily over time. 

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And that choice has made 
regulators hesitant. 

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And there's still no timeline 
for when Tesla will apply for 

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driverless permits. 
Tesla's real differentiator is 

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scale. 
The company already has millions

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of cars on the road with FSD 
capabilities. 

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If it ever flips the switch on 
unsupervised mode, it could 

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instantly convert a huge 
percentage of its fleet into 

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revenue generating robo taxis. 
That's the core of the bull 

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case. 
Even though today's service 

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still includes a human monitor, 
infrastructure now exists to 

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turn every FSD enabled Tesla 
into a ride handling vehicle 

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with a software update. 
At the same time, Tesla faces 

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new technical and legal 
challenges that could slow that 

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vision. 
Recent investigations into the 

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safety of FSD has raised 
questions about its ability to 

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meet the standards required for 
driverless operation. 

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Tesla is still under review by 
multiple regulatory agencies, 

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and its own crash data hasn't 
fully cleared the skepticism 

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around system reliability. 
Now, unlike Cruise, which faced 

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a temporary shutdown due to 
safety concerns, Tesla is trying

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to walk the line between public 
testing and regulatory 

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compliance without making major 
public concessions. 

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Now, the app launch also exposes
Tesla to a new category of user 

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feedback that it hasn't had to 
deal with before. 

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Passengers are now experienced 
the FSD system from the 

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backseat, which means every slow
turn, awkward lane merge, or 

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stop sign hesitation get 
scrutinized in a way that normal

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drivers might ignore. 
Experience may feel novel right 

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now, but Tesla will need to 
refine both the system behavior 

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and the overall rider experience
if it wants to be on par with 

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Uber and Lyft and I'll. 
Tesla's timeline for going fully

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driverless remains undefined. 
The company has yet to submit a 

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formal application for 
driverless operation in most 

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states. 
Sources inside the California 

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Public Utilities Commission say 
they haven't received a full 

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autonomy filing from Tesla. 
And until that changes, the 

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Robotaxi app will stay in hybrid
mode, the safety drivers on 

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board and data flowing back to 
Tesla HQ for system refinement. 

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The app state BU creates the 
framework for a service that 

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could eventually scale, but the 
technology inside the car still 

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has to meet the legal and 
performance threshold for 

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unsupervised operations. 
Tesla has moved from promises to

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partial roll out, but the leap 
to full autonomy remains 

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unproven. 
Hey, thank you so much for 

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listening today. 
I really do appreciate your 

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support. 
If you could take a second and 

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hit the subscribe or the follow 
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appreciate it. 
It helps out the show 

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tremendously and you'll never 
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And each episode is about 10 
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support the show even more, go 
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And please take care of 
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And I'll see you tomorrow.