Former Waymo CEO Dismisses Tesla Robotaxi: "I'm Still Waiting" originally appeared on Autoblog.
Comments Come As Tesla Robotaxis Arrive in San Francisco
Self-driving cars are still far from the mainstream technology many predicted they would be a decade ago, but a man who has done more than most to get them where they are are today is not impressed with Tesla's Robotaxi service, which just arrived in Waymo's home turf in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As CEO of Waymo, John Krafcik oversaw the commercial deals and negotiations with local governments that allowed the Google spinoff to shift from proof-of-concept to small-scale commercial ridesharing service. When asked his opinion of Tesla's effort by Business Insider, Krafcik said the automaker isn't measuring up.
"I'm Still Waiting"
"If they were striving to re-create today's Bay Area Uber experience," Krafcik, who led Waymo from 2015 to 2021 following a stint at Hyundai, said in an email to Business Insider, "looks like they've absolutely nailed it."
After almost a decade of promises of autonomous ridesharing, Tesla launched its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June, adding service in the Bay Area in July. For now, a human driver sits behind the wheel as a backup; Tesla hasn't applied for the California permits that would allow it to test and operate truly driverless cars, as Waymo currently does. In Austin, where the rules are less strict, a person sitting the front passenger seat serves as a safety monitor. The presence of human backups means Tesla isn't the same league as Waymo, as far as Krafcik is concerned.
"Please let me know when Tesla launches a robotaxi—I'm still waiting," the former Waymo CEO said in the email. "It's (rather obviously) not a robotaxi if there's an employee inside the car."
Tesla's service remains invite-only, but CEO Elon Musk said on August 10 that it will be "open access" by next month. Don't expect Krafick to takes Musk up on that offer; he told Business Insider that he has no interest in trying the Tesla Robotaxi service.
An Earlier Stage Of Development
Tesla is indeed far beyond Waymo, which offers driverless rides in multiple cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, with a fleet of about 1,500 self-driving cars. But it's taken the Silicon Valley-based company a long time to get there.
Waymo first began offering rides to the public in 2017 in the form of an "early rider" program that was invite-only and used human backup drivers—just like Tesla is doing now. Waymo began offering driverless rides in Phoenix in 2020 before expanding to other cities. And while Waymo's sensor-clad Jaguar I-Pace EVs have become a common sight in San Francisco, they're still vastly outnumbered by taxis, buses, and conventional rideshare vehicles.
The difference is that Waymo followed a methodical approach in both technological development and messaging. Instead of teasing a self-driving future that's always right around the corner, but never quite here, as Musk has done, Waymo has announced business updates when they are ready, while making enough progress to keep investors and the public interested. That approach has gotten Waymo a lot further than Tesla, which explains its former CEO's reaction to the latter's ridesharing ambitions.
Former Waymo CEO Dismisses Tesla Robotaxi: "I'm Still Waiting" first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 19, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
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