Keeney acknowledges that there has been "a lot of progress" in Tesla's self-driving software in recent years. While she admits the autonomous driving technology is "not perfect," she notes that consumers have shown it works. Keeney expresses confidence that in five years robotaxi technology will drive significant gains for Tesla.
However, Keeney emphasizes that the release of the robotaxi will depend on when the software will be ready. She explains that Tesla's current vehicles can become fully autonomous once the necessary software updates are made. Despite potential delays in unveiling the robotaxi prototype, Keeney believes the announcement demonstrates the company's confidence in the progress of its robotaxi network.
Furthermore, Keeney highlights Tesla's "unparalleled data advantage" over its competitors in the autonomous driving space. She believes the company has more than enough data mileage to "train their models," underscoring that "data is key" in this rapidly evolving industry.
Roth MKM's Craig Irwin tells Yahoo Finance he thinks the robotaxi is going to be a "disappointment." You can see that interview with him here.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief.
Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith
Video Transcript
- Let's look at some trending tickers. Investors plugging into Tesla after CEO Elon Musk made an announcement on X, writing that the company will be unveiling a robotaxi on August 8. For more on this, we're joined by Tasha Keeney, ARK Invest analyst.
Tasha, always great to see you here. Thanks for joining us on a Monday morning. So I think by this time, we're thinking, OK, August 8, he must have it down. But we've been told about this, teased about this before in 2020, going back all the time when we were talking-- when Elon Musk was talking about a million robotaxis. So what should we expect on August 8 here in the great reveal?