We have robotaxis in the Phoenix area. Google’s Waymo has been active for several years. The other day, I saw one pull up to the library and an obviously blind man, complete with white cane exited. I cannot argue with that use.
The braille keypads on ATM's were just a little ahead of their time.
Waymo is very good. However it doesn’t make google money. Every “taxi” costs about 150K to build. A Waymo in Phoenix can’t operate in San Francisco etc. They need to have very detailed maps (to the inch) for the area they are in.
Tesla works on any off the shelf Tesla model. Doesn’t really add any cost. They will have purpose built robotaxis that supposedly will cost only about 30-35K. The problem is they are still not 100 pct hands free. I’d say 95pct but getting the last 5 pct is a huge challenge.