Tesla missed Wall Street’s expectations for the final three months of 2024 but predicted a 'return to growth in 2025.'

While there are really no truly autonomous vehicles in the world, Tesla may be inching closer to making this dream a reality if comments from Elon Musk are to be believed. The billionaire CEO made some intriguing announcements during the automaker’s Q4 2024 earnings webcast on January 29.

Our collective eyebrows raised when Elon Musk said self-driving vehicles were coming to Austin this week. Yes, really. Here is senior reporter Sean O’Kane’s article detailing Musk’s claims, which he made during Tesla’s Q4 earnings call.

Soon, when Austinites pull up to a light between a Waymo and Tesla they might be the only person in a car. That's because Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans to bring a paid ride-hailing service, powered by Tesla’s recently announced robotaxis,

On the Tesla front, Musk said robotaxis with unsupervised Full Self Driving technology will begin picking up fares in Austin, Texas, beginning this June. “I’m confident we’ll release unsupervised FSD in California (this year), as well,” he said.

Tesla Inc. fleshed out plans to launch a robotaxi business Elon Musk is counting on to help usher in next phase of growth, after the company posted quarterly earnings that missed estimates.

The bigger news, though, is what Tesla has planned for 2025. In the first half of the year, it’s set to launch “ more affordable ” models. Precise details about these models haven’t been confirmed, although Tesla has been talking about them for quite some time.

Musk claims Tesla will operate a fleet of taxis akin to Waymo's rideshare operation.

While the initial testing will use Tesla's own fleet of cars, regular customers may be able to add their cars to the ride-hailing fleet next year, Musk says.

Tesla will launch an “unsupervised, no one in the car” robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June, Elon Musk said in an earnings call Wednesday. “We just want to put a toe in the water, make sure everything’s okay, put a few more toes in the water, with safety of the general public and those in the car as a top priority,” Musk said.

Tesla's fourth-quarter and full-year earnings day is here — a highly anticipated report that is expected to be released after market close Wednesday.