Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced that the company’s fully autonomous robotaxi service will soon expand to new regions.On the night of July 9, Musk responded to a user on X (formerly Twitter) who was awaiting updates on the robotaxi service, writing, “We’re expanding to a wider service area in Austin this weekend.”

When asked about the timeline for the San Francisco Bay Area, Musk replied, “We’re awaiting regulatory approval, but probably in one or two months.”On June 22, Tesla conducted a pilot robotaxi service in a limited area of Austin, Texas, using Model Y vehicles equipped with the latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, targeting a small group of social media influencers. However, reports of multiple traffic violations during the test led to an ongoing regulatory investigation.

Musk had remained silent on robotaxi developments for about three weeks before announcing the expansion plans. Wall Street analysts predict that if Tesla successfully expands its robotaxi service as planned, it could pose a significant threat to both the autonomous taxi industry, led by Google’s Waymo, and ride-hailing giants like Uber. Alexander Potter, an analyst at investment firm Piper Sandler, wrote in a note to investors on July 10, “The faster this expansion progresses (without major incidents), the better it will be for Tesla’s stock price.

”Following Musk’s robotaxi expansion comments, Tesla’s stock surged to $307.92 (up 4.06%) during morning trading on July 10, before settling at $303.55 (up 2.59%) by 1 p.m. ET, compared to the previous day. The stock had previously plummeted to $293.94 on July 7 after Musk clashed with President Donald Trump and announced plans to form a new political party on July 5.On the same day, Musk repeatedly touted the improved performance of ‘Grok,’ a chatbot recently launched by his AI startup xAI, announcing that the service would soon be available in Tesla vehicles. “Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon, by next week at the latest,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, according to CNBC and other economic media, Tesla’s board reported to authorities that its annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for November 6. On July 9, a group of Tesla investors reportedly sent a letter to the board urging the company to hold the meeting as soon as possible.