Tesla's robotaxi push is confusing the hell out of regulators (www.theverge.com)

Reuters reporting shows Tesla has created confusion among California and federal regulators by marketing an invite‑only San Francisco “robotaxi” service while operating vehicles with safety drivers and without applying for the permits required to test or run fully driverless cars. Emails obtained by Reuters reveal state transportation and DMV officials pressing Tesla for clarification after Elon Musk publicly claimed the company had secured “regulatory permission” to launch a robotaxi. Tesla’s policy team largely declined to answer regulator questions, and the vehicles in service remain staffed by human drivers rather than being deployed as true driverless (Level 4/5) taxis. The situation matters because it highlights a growing gap between public claims about autonomy and the technical and legal realities that regulators enforce. By presenting a human‑supervised ride service as a robotaxi, Tesla risks muddying distinctions used to govern safety testing, data sharing, liability and consumer expectations—issues that make regulators cautious about permitting commercial autonomous operations. Technically, these vehicles still rely on a human fallback rather than a certified autonomous stack, so regulators can require permits, transparency on disengagements and safety validation before allowing driverless commercialization. The case could set a precedent for stricter oversight, clearer labeling rules, and tighter enforcement of permit and testing requirements across the AV industry.