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Trial crucial for Tesla's pivot to AI and robotics

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Service faces scrutiny over self-driving tech efficacy

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Texas lawmakers urge delay until new autonomous vehicle

law

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CEO Musk has promised to focus on safety

By Akash Sriram and Abhirup Roy

June 20 (Reuters) - Tesla has sent out

invitations to a small group of people to join the limited test

of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, which is tentatively

set to start on Sunday, according to posts and email screenshots

on social media.

The invitations said a Tesla employee will accompany riders

in the front passenger seat, the posts showed.

A successful trial in Austin will be crucial for Tesla, as

car buyers shun the company following its CEO Elon Musk's

embrace of hard-right politics in the U.S. and worldwide.

The company has shifted from building a cheaper EV platform

to robotics and artificial intelligence. Much of the company's

valuation rests on that bet.

Musk has said he will focus on safety in the trial, with

humans remotely monitoring the vehicles. He has said he expects

to be able to scale the robotaxi quickly.

Tesla plans to deploy around 10 Model Y SUVs that run on a

version of Tesla's full self-driving driver assistance software,

Musk has said.

The start could be delayed and the service might be limited

or unavailable in bad weather. Riders have to be aged 18 or

above to take a ride.

"Tesla is rolling out the Robotaxi service extremely

cautiously, which is good. Baby steps," posted Omar Qazi, an

X.com user with 635,100 followers who posts often about Tesla

using the handle @WholeMarsBlog and received an invite. "Very

much so," CEO Elon Musk responded.

But commercializing autonomous vehicles is an expensive,

risky process. Tesla and others such as Alphabet's Waymo

and Amazon's ( AMZN ) Zoox have faced federal

investigations and recalls following collisions.

Industry experts have questioned the efficacy of Tesla's

self-driving technology that depends mostly on cameras and AI,

without redundant sensors such as lidar and radar, claiming fog,

heavy rain, and glaring sunlight can hamper safety.

On Wednesday, a group of Democratic lawmakers from the

Austin area called on the company to delay the rollout until

September, when a new state law governing autonomous vehicles

takes effect.

Users who confirm their presence in Austin can download

Tesla's Robotaxi app, which they use to call a vehicle.

"Through this exclusive preview, you'll have the opportunity

to provide valuable feedback on our Robotaxi service," one of

the screenshots showed. Reuters could not immediately verify the

authenticity of the screenshots.