Tesla has officially registered 42 autonomous vehicles for its driverless ride-hailing service in Texas, a figure that highlights a significant gap between the company and its competitors. Recent filings with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles reveal that Waymo, the autonomous driving subsidiary of Alphabet, maintains a much larger presence in the state with 577 authorized robotaxis. Other industry players, such as AV Ride and Amazon’s Zoox, also hold notable positions in the Texas market, with 317 and 35 registered vehicles, respectively.

This data release coincides with the implementation of new state legislation that grants Texas authorities increased oversight regarding commercial driverless vehicle operations. Under the updated regulatory framework, operators are now required to self-certify that their fleets meet Level 4 autonomous standards as defined by the SAE. While Waymo has long operated under this classification, Tesla’s fleet status remains a point of industry scrutiny, as the company has historically categorized most of its vehicles as Level 2 driver-assistance systems.

Tesla’s push into the autonomous ride-hailing sector is a critical component of CEO Elon Musk’s strategy to pivot the company toward artificial intelligence and robotics. Despite these ambitions, the company faces operational hurdles, including a series of 17 reported incidents in Austin between July 2025 and April 2026, some of which resulted in injuries. While Tesla continues to seek testing permits in states like Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, it currently remains far behind the scale of Waymo, which operates nearly 4,000 vehicles across the United States.