A Tesla robotaxi drives on the road alongside South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, U.S., June 22, 2025.
Joel Angel Juarez | Reuters
Tesla is recruiting test drivers in New York to function vehicles with “automated driving systems,” however the firm hasn’t applied for the permits it might have to test autonomous automobiles in the nation’s largest metropolis.
A job opening on Tesla’s web site says the corporate is seeking to rent automobile operators in the borough of Queens. The hires will probably be “responsible for driving an engineering vehicle for extended periods, conducting dynamic audio and camera data collection for testing and training purposes.”
A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation instructed CNBC on Monday that Tesla has not applied for approvals to test AVs on metropolis streets in New York. InsideEVs, an electrical automobiles information website, beforehand reported that Tesla was hiring test drivers for its robotaxis in Brooklyn.
Any firm that obtains a allow to test AVs in New York has to maintain “a trained safety driver behind the wheel, ready to take control of an AV-enabled vehicle at all times,” in accordance with the DOT spokesperson.
Tesla did not reply to a request for remark.
Alphabet’s Waymo, the robotaxi chief in North America, has applied to test its AVs in New York, however its software stays beneath evaluation, the DOT stated Monday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been attempting to promote traders on a future for his firm that is constructed round AI and robotics, fairly than gross sales of its current automobiles. But Tesla nonetheless earns nearly all of its income from gross sales of EVs and battery vitality storage techniques.
Tesla’s EV gross sales have been on the decline this 12 months, particularly in Europe, partly because of Musk’s determination to give attention to the Cybertruck, fairly than producing a extra reasonably priced EV with mainstream enchantment. Some of the corporate’s struggles are the results of a political backlash in opposition to Tesla due to Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric, work with President Donald Trump, and endorsements of Germany’s anti-immigrant AfD social gathering.
Along with its recruiting efforts in Queens, Tesla can also be searching for to rent test drivers for its Autopilot group to collect knowledge from drives in cities and suburbs of Dallas, Houston, Tampa, Orlando and Miami, in addition to Palo Alto, California, house to Tesla’s engineering headquarters.
The present listings on Tesla’s web site say Autopilot automobile operators could have to journey to worldwide and home locations and should be accustomed to “automated driving systems,” suggesting deliberate or ongoing testing of Tesla’s robotaxi and FSD or Full Self Driving system, presently marketed as FSD Unsupervised in the U.S.
Tesla notched a win in Texas final week, acquiring a allow to run a ride-hailing service in the state. The Tesla Robotaxi LLC allow and state rules don’t require Tesla to maintain a human security driver on board.
However, Tesla has been working a fleet of robotaxis in Austin since late June, with staff using in the entrance passenger seat, tasked with manually intervening throughout a visit if mandatory. The service has solely been accessible to invited customers. Musk stated in a submit on X over the weekend that he intends for the Austin service to open to most people next month.
In San Francisco, Tesla can also be working a restricted, manned automobile service however selling it as “autonomous ride-hailing.”
Musk posted final week that the corporate is “working as quickly as possible to get 100+ Teslas operating for autonomous ride-hailing (can’t use the word “taxi” or “cab” in California) in the Bay Area and allow anyone to request a ride.”
The firm will not be licensed to hold passengers on public roads in autonomous automobiles in California, the California Public Utilities Commission instructed CNBC in a latest electronic mail.
Tesla’s strategy to AVs has drawn federal probes, product legal responsibility lawsuits and recollects following injurious or damaging collisions that occurred whereas drivers had been utilizing the corporate’s Autopilot or FSD techniques.
The California DMV beforehand sued Tesla, accusing it of false promoting round its driver help techniques.
While Tesla house owners manuals say the Autopilot and FSD options in their vehicles are “hands on” techniques that require a driver able to steer or brake at any time, Tesla and Musk have shared statements via the years saying {that a} Tesla can “drive itself.”
