A video shared by Tesla shows a Model Y navigating public roads in Austin, including highways and city streets, and crossing intersections without anyone in the driver's or front passenger seats. The customer and a Tesla employee were waiting at the curbside of an apartment building at the delivery point.

Tesla hasn't disclosed which software and hardware versions were used in the video, or whether and when this technology will be available to customers.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X, "First fully autonomous Tesla Model Y delivery from factory to customer's house through town, including highway, just completed a day ahead of schedule. Congrats Tesla AI team, both software & AI chip design!".

Musk also stated that there was no one in the car and no remote control at any time. "Fully autonomous!" Musk emphasized, adding, "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fully autonomous drive with no one in the car or remotely controlling the car on a highway."

Musk’s claim of the "first fully autonomous drive on a highway" is inaccurate. Waymo, owned by Alphabet, currently operates a commercial robotaxi service in several US cities. It has been providing employees with fully autonomous rides on Phoenix highways since 2024 and has expanded to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Tesla's head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said in posts on X that the automaker "picked a random customer who had ordered a Model Y in the Austin area." He also said the delivered vehicle was "exactly the same as every Model Y built at the Tesla factory".

Elluswamy also noted that the Model Y in the driverless delivery traveled at "a top speed of 115 km/h". According to the Texas Department of Transportation website, most Texas highways have a maximum speed limit of 70 miles (112 km/h).

My Anh (via CNBC)