According to @garyblack00, MarketWatch reporter William Gavin reports that Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said Tesla has effectively "solved" autonomy enough to pull safety drivers at scale in major metros, clarifying it does not mean perfection but operational readiness at scale (source: MarketWatch, William Gavin, citing Adam Jonas). According to the same MarketWatch report, Tesla launched ride-hailing pilots in Austin in July and later in the San Francisco Bay Area with Tesla employees as safety drivers, and Elon Musk said the company expects to remove safety drivers in Austin by the end of December while describing the approach as "paranoid about safety" (source: MarketWatch, William Gavin, citing Tesla earnings call remarks by Elon Musk). MarketWatch adds that Musk aims to operate the service in up to 10 metro areas by the end of 2025, with Nevada, Florida, and Arizona named as targets, and that a dedicated Cybercab robotaxi without pedals or a steering wheel is scheduled for volume production next year (source: MarketWatch, William Gavin, citing Elon Musk). The report contrasts Tesla’s camera-driven stack (up to nine cameras depending on model year) with rivals using lidar and radar, noting Waymo’s setup of 13 cameras, four lidars, and six radars and Rivian’s rig of 10 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and five radars, while recalling Musk’s prior statement that lidar is expensive and unnecessary (source: MarketWatch, William Gavin; Waymo and Rivian hardware details as reported by MarketWatch; Musk comments cited by MarketWatch). Jonas said the only thing holding Tesla back is an abundance of caution, and the trading-relevant milestones cited are the planned removal of safety drivers in Austin by December, expansion to about 10 metros by end-2025, and the start of Cybercab volume production next year; the cited sources did not discuss cryptocurrency market impacts (source: MarketWatch, William Gavin, citing Adam Jonas and Elon Musk).

According to @garyblack00, MarketWatch journalist William Gavin reports that Tesla is pursuing a lower-cost, camera-driven autonomy stack that appears to be succeeding versus rivals relying on lidar and radar, with Tesla vehicles using up to nine cameras depending on model year (source: @garyblack00 citing William Gavin at MarketWatch). According to @garyblack00, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote he is “calling it” that Tesla has effectively solved autonomy to the extent needed to pull safety drivers at scale in major metros, while noting this does not mean perfection or six or seven nines reliability (source: @garyblack00 citing Adam Jonas’s Monday note at Morgan Stanley). According to @garyblack00, Tesla began ride-hailing in Austin using its self-driving software with a Tesla employee as a safety driver, added a newer operation in the San Francisco Bay Area, and expects to remove safety drivers in Austin by the end of December as it ramps (source: @garyblack00 summarizing Tesla’s operations as reported). According to @garyblack00, Elon Musk said Tesla aims to operate in up to 10 metro areas by the end of 2025, with Nevada, Florida, and Arizona specifically targeted, and plans volume production of a dedicated Cybercab robotaxi without pedals or a steering wheel next year (source: @garyblack00 referencing remarks from a recent Tesla earnings call). According to @garyblack00, competitors such as Waymo deploy 13 cameras, four lidars, six radar units, and external audio receivers, and Rivian’s system uses 10 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and five radars, underscoring Tesla’s divergent, cost-focused approach that excludes lidar (source: @garyblack00 citing company disclosures referenced by William Gavin at MarketWatch). According to @garyblack00, the source outlines trading-relevant milestones: December removal of safety drivers in Austin, a multi-metro rollout by end-2025, and Cybercab volume production next year, while no direct cryptocurrency market impact is discussed in the source (source: @garyblack00).