Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) recently ramped up its Robotaxi operations in Texas, providing unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Dallas and Houston, while it was already providing rides in Austin. While the ramp-up in Cybercab production could provide another boost in its Robotaxi exploits, Tesla remains far behind its rival Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo.
Tesla Vs Waymo
On Thursday, Electrek reported that Tesla had increased the size of its unsupervised Robotaxi fleet to 25 across the three Texan cities, citing the Robotaxi tracker. The increase represents a sign of growth in the service, which has struggled to replicate the successes of Waymo, almost a year after it was launched in June 2025 with an onboard safety driver.
In Austin, Tesla operates 20 unsupervised Robotaxis, while also operating three each in Houston and Dallas, data from the Robotaxi tracker said. The automaker also operates a supervised Robotaxi fleet in California, which comprises 107 vehicles. The Austin fleet also comprises several supervised Robotaxis.
On the other hand, Waymo is far ahead in terms of its fleet size, service area, as well as the number of rides completed. Waymo operates across 10 cities and has reached the 500,000 rides per week milestone. Waymo also aims to expand its services in London.
Uber’s Approach To Robotaxis
Meanwhile, ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) reportedly committed over $10 billion to bolster its Robotaxi pursuits. The commitment illustrates a mix of acquiring equity stakes in Robotaxi operators, as well as expanding Uber’s own fleet size.
The company has partnerships in place with Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID), by which Uber committed to purchase over 35,000 Lucid vehicles for the EV maker’s upcoming global robotaxi service. It also has a partnership with Rivian Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) and NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).
Uber also launched Europe’s first commercial Robotaxi service in the Croatian capital Zagreb in partnership with Verne, a Croatian robotaxi company owned by EV maker Rimac.
WeRide, Apollo Go Also Grow
WeRide Inc. (NASDAQ:WRD) is also among the leaders in the global Robotaxi race, with the company operating in over 40 cities across 12 countries. The company recently announced an expansion of its partnership with Lenovo Group Limited (OTC:LNVGY), aiming to deploy 200,000 Robotaxis over the next five years.
Baidu Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:BIDU) Apollo Go shared that it was rolling out its services to Dubai in a partnership with Uber. The Chinese tech giant also reported that it had surpassed 20 million lifetime robotaxi rides with Apollo Go recently. Apollo Go is also expanding to London with Uber and Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT).
However, despite the positive news, the company faced a difficult challenge recently as several Apollo Go robotaxis froze in the city of Wuhan, located in Hubei province. The incident was caused as the service was hit by a system outage, with a video showing one Robotaxi colliding with a vehicle on a highway.
The incident also invited regulatory scrutiny, with Chinese authorities reportedly slamming the brakes on Robotaxi licenses in the country following the incident, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this week.
Ford’s Possible Robotaxi?
Automaker Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) could also become a part of the Robotaxi race in the near future, following CEO Jim Farley‘s cryptic comments about the company’s fleet management prowess, as well as its Universal EV Platform, which could support level 3 autonomous driving in the future.
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