May 29 - Tesla (TSLA, Financial) plans to start operating a fleet of 10 to 20 full self-driving Model Y vehicles on Austin's public streets in mid-June, following on-road tests this week without a driver or onboard engineer.
Shares of Uber (UBER, Financial) and Lyft (LYFT, Financial) declined in Thursday's trading, reflecting investors' caution as competition heats up.
Uber has been building its own autonomous network through partnerships with Google's Waymo (GOOG, Financial) in Austin and Atlanta, Pony AI (PONY, Financial), Momenta and May Mobility, which is set to launch on the Uber platform in Arlington, Texas, by year-end. A separate agreement with WeRide (WRD, Financial) aims to roll out driverless vehicles across 17 U.S. cities over the next five years.
Lyft is also deepening its self-driving ambitions via ties with Mobileye (MBLY, Financial), Marubeni (MARUY, Financial) and May Mobility, with trials expected in Atlanta as soon as this summer and a broader launch in Dallas by 2026.
Lyft CEO David Risher says autonomous vehicles may reshape the ride-hailing market over time, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi predicts they could supplant most human-driven cars by around 2040.
