Elon Musk has indicated a provisional launch date of June 22nd for Tesla's robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

In a post on his X social media platform, Musk mentioned that the date might change because Tesla is being extremely cautious about safety.

Investors, Wall Street analysts, and Tesla fans have been looking forward to the release of the self-driving taxis since Musk announced earlier this year that the service would start in Austin sometime in June.

Musk recently shared with CNBC his plans for robotaxis, explaining that they will initially be watched remotely and restricted to specific, safe parts of the city. He expects to start with about ten taxis, quickly increase this number, and then offer the service in Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Francisco, and other major cities.

For ten years, Musk has been saying that fully self-driving cars will be available "next year." Now, with Tesla starting a self-driving taxi service, the pressure is much higher. This is especially true because sales of Tesla's electric cars have gone down. This drop in sales is due to more competition, changes to its popular Model Y car, and the negative effects of Musk becoming more involved in politics.

The Austin launch happened after Musk had a big public disagreement with President Trump about the government's tax law. Because of this, some experts are worried that Trump could get back at him by encouraging federal safety regulators to get involved if there are any problems with the robotaxis.