Tesla's Robotaxi Hype Soars on Wall Street, Stalls in Reality

Tesla's stock price is surging because of investor excitement about its planned "robotaxi" service. However, industry analysts warn the company is significantly behind its main competitor in the race to build self-driving cars. The optimism centers on Tesla's promise to unveil a dedicated robotaxi vehicle in August. This has pushed the company's market value higher, as investors bet on its future in automated ride-hailing. Yet experts note a major gap between financial hype and technical progress. Alphabet's Waymo already operates commercial robotaxi services in multiple U.S. cities. Waymo has a big head start, using more advanced sensor technology and logging millions of miles in autonomous driving. Tesla's current "Full Self-Driving" system requires a human driver ready to take control at all times. True robotaxis, like Waymo's, aim to remove the driver completely. Analysts say catching up will be a long and costly challenge for Tesla.