Tesla Deploys Driverless Robotaxis in Dallas and Houston Without Lidar

Tesla has launched commercial robotaxi operations in Dallas and Houston, deploying Model 3 and Model Y vehicles without safety drivers or lidar sensors—a departure from competitors like Waymo. The Level 4 autonomous service relies on Tesla's vision-based perception system: eight surround cameras, twelve ultrasonic sensors, and radar processing through custom FSD hardware. Remote operations centers provide oversight. The deployment tests whether Tesla's controversial sensor-only approach can scale commercially, positioning it against industry-standard high-definition mapping and lidar-based systems.