Musk says Tesla will lead global autonomous vehicle market

Monday 16 February 2026 - 18:20

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said Sunday that he expects the company to command the largest fleet of autonomous vehicles “as far as I can imagine into the future,” as the electric carmaker expands its early stage robotaxi service across the United States.

Musk made the remarks on X, the social media platform he owns, while Tesla accelerates deployment of unsupervised robotaxis in Austin, Texas, and prepares to roll out the service in seven additional US cities during the first half of 2026.

Tesla’s robotaxi operations have been running in Austin since June 2025. The company reached a significant milestone on January 22, 2026, when it began offering fully autonomous rides to the general public without a safety supervisor inside the vehicle. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s vice president of artificial intelligence, confirmed the launch and said the company is gradually integrating self driving vehicles into its fleet while phasing out human monitors.

The company continues to deploy so called follow cars that trail robotaxis, according to videos shared by early users. These vehicles are believed to serve validation and safety functions. Tesla has not clarified whether the escort vehicles will eventually be removed as the system matures.

During Tesla’s fourth quarter earnings call in late January, executives confirmed plans to expand the robotaxi service to Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Las Vegas in the first half of 2026. The inclusion of Tampa and Orlando marks a faster rollout than earlier projections, which had listed only Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston.

In shareholder materials released alongside earnings, Tesla categorized Austin as operating under “unsupervised ramp up,” while the San Francisco Bay Area remains under a “safety driver” protocol, reflecting continued reliance on human oversight in California’s dense urban environment.

Musk’s forecast comes as competition in autonomous driving intensifies. Waymo, owned by Alphabet, reported completing 14 million fully autonomous rides in 2025, tripling its annual volume from the previous year. The company operates roughly 2,500 robotaxis across several US markets. When Waymo announced the milestone, Musk dismissed the figures on X as “beginner numbers.”

Phoenix is expected to become a key testing ground when Tesla enters the market, offering a direct comparison between Waymo’s sensor fusion approach, which combines lidar and cameras, and Tesla’s camera based “Tesla Vision” system. The rivalry is likely to shape investor expectations and regulatory scrutiny as companies race to scale commercial autonomous mobility.