Musk unveils his ‘Cybercab’ robotaxi

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled his vision of a “a fun, exciting future,” an “age of abundance” full of his company’s self-driving cars without steering wheels or pedals, robots that will walk among the population and that he once again promised would be available within a few years.

Whether he can live up to these promises remains to be seen.

The promises, and the revelation of the designs for his robotaxis, came at a glitzy California event on Thursday, full of the kind of hype that has built Tesla a dedicated fan base for its electric vehicles.

Musk is famous for promising near-term targets that take years or more to reach. He had predicted five years ago that his fleet of robotaxis were only a year away. And during his presentation at the Warner Bros. Studio lot late Thursday, even he admitted, “I tend to be a little optimistic with time frames.”

The event unveiling these products, which was livestreamed to millions of viewers on his social media platform X, was 53 minutes late beginning.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.