Tesla x SpaceX (Terafab, Grimes County)

Electric-vehicle and AI company (NASDAQ: TSLA), founded 2003 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, with a physical-AI program spanning three robotics fronts: a [robotaxi ride-hailing service](/models/tesla-robotaxi), the [Optimus](/models/tesla-optimus) humanoid robot, and the forthcoming purpose-built [Cybercab](/models/tesla-cybercab). Robotaxi: Tesla launched robotaxi service in Austin in July 2025 and operates in two markets as of mid-2026: Austin (unsupervised L4 driverless; small active fleet of ~14, of ~42 vehicles registered with the Texas DMV, late May 2026) and the San Francisco Bay Area (supervised L2 under a CPUC TCP permit; ~1,655 vehicles registered with CPUC but only ~9 active as of late May 2026, down from a ~168 peak in January 2026). The active US unsupervised fleet is ~20 (14 Austin / 3 Dallas / 3 Houston) and has declined since a late-2025 / early-2026 peak; registered counts far exceed the active operating fleet. The vehicles are 2026 Model Y cars running Tesla's [Full Self-Driving / Autonomous Driving System](/brains/tesla-fsd-bot). At its Q4 2025 earnings call (January 2026), Tesla announced plans to expand to seven additional US cities (Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas) in H1 2026; Dallas and Houston launched in April 2026, while the other five (Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas) slipped to 'preparations underway'. The Austin operation carries a [federally-mandated crash-reporting record](/incidents/tesla-robotaxi-austin-nhtsa-crash-record-2025-2026) (17 NHTSA-reported incidents July 2025 to March 2026, including two teleoperator-caused crashes; zero major crashes and no citations per Austin PD), and NHTSA has separately inquired into videos of erratic driving. Optimus: Tesla's humanoid robot, with Gen 3 mass production commencing at the Fremont factory on January 21, 2026. Notably, at the January 2026 earnings call [Musk](/people/elon-musk) admitted that as of then zero Optimus robots were doing 'useful work' in Tesla's factories. Units at Fremont and Giga Texas are in a supervised learning and data-collection phase, not yet performing productive autonomous manufacturing work. Tesla committed $20B+ in 2026 capex toward Optimus, plans to convert its Fremont Model S/X lines to Optimus manufacturing (toward a stated 1-million-unit/year capacity by end-2026), and is constructing a dedicated Giga Texas facility, all production-capacity ambitions, with first productive internal deployment projected for late 2026 to 2027. Cybercab: a purpose-built, steering-wheel-free dedicated robotaxi vehicle, with production expected to begin around April 2026, not yet the deployed service vehicle as of early 2026. Tesla's physical-AI program operates under intense regulatory and public scrutiny, and is notable for the gap between its publicly stated targets and demonstrated results.

SpaceX is Elon Musk's aerospace company developing reusable rockets (Falcon 9, [Starship](/companies/starship)), satellite internet (Starlink), and autonomous spacecraft. Completed blockbuster IPO in June 2026, now valued at ~$1.6 trillion. Starlink provides connectivity infrastructure for autonomous vehicles and robots.