John Krafcik, the former CEO who steered Waymo from a Google research project into a commercial autonomous ride-hailing company, has cast doubt on Tesla’s much-hyped Robotaxi service, arguing that it falls far short of industry standards for autonomy.
In comments to Business Insider, Krafcik, who led Waymo from 2015 until 2021 and now sits on the board of Tesla rival Rivian, dismissed Tesla’s Robotaxi launch in the Bay Area as little more than a rebranded Uber-style service.
“If they were striving to re-create today’s Bay Area Uber experience,” Krafcik said over email, “looks like they’ve absolutely nailed it.”
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Tesla quietly began offering Robotaxi rides in San Francisco in July, about a month after piloting the service, but with a major caveat: every ride includes a Tesla employee in the driver’s seat as a safety monitor. California regulators confirmed that Tesla has not yet applied for the permits required to test or deploy fully driverless vehicles, a step taken by competitors like Waymo and Cruise years ago. CEO Elon Musk has nonetheless promised that the service will be opened to the public by next month.
Krafcik was blunt in his assessment. “Please let me know when Tesla launches a robotaxi — I’m still waiting,” he said. “It’s (rather obviously) not a robotaxi if there’s an employee inside the car.”
In Texas, where Tesla also operates Robotaxi rides in Austin under looser rules, a human monitor sits in the passenger seat rather than behind the wheel. Even so, Krafcik said he has no interest in trying the service, pointing out that its reliance on human oversight makes it no different from an enhanced ride-hailing model.
The Standard for Autonomy
The debate highlights the absence of an agreed definition of a robotaxi. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) categorizes autonomous driving on a scale of 0 to 6. Levels 4 and 5 qualify as fully autonomous, where no human is required to take over. Tesla’s Robotaxi, however, appears to fall short of even Level 3 autonomy, which requires a driver to intervene when requested.
Tesla has not secured a permit from the California DMV to test driverless cars at Level 3 or above, raising further questions about Musk’s promise of widespread rollout.
Waymo, by contrast, has steadily moved through these levels. It began its “early rider program” in Arizona in 2017, when safety drivers were present and participants signed nondisclosure agreements. In 2019, when select riders tested the service, some noted that while rides were generally smooth, safety drivers occasionally had to take over.
By the end of 2020, Waymo was offering fully driverless, paid rides in Phoenix, becoming the first company to do so in the United States. The company has since expanded to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, with more than 1,500 robotaxis on the road.
Krafcik stressed that during its early testing phase, Waymo never marketed its service as a “robotaxi” — reserving that label only once safety drivers were no longer required.
“I think the AV industry would be delighted if Tesla followed Waymo’s approach to launch a robotaxi service,” he said, “but they are not doing that.”
Tesla’s Gamble vs. Waymo’s Patience
The skepticism from Krafcik underscores the broader divide between Tesla’s aggressive, promise-driven rollout strategy and Waymo’s more methodical, regulation-heavy approach. While Tesla has long touted its vehicles’ “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) capability, regulators and safety experts argue the company has blurred the line between advanced driver assistance and true autonomy.
Waymo, meanwhile, has endured setbacks of its own. Despite billions in funding from Google parent Alphabet, the company has struggled to prove a sustainable business model, with expansion slowed by costs and regulatory hurdles. Krafcik’s leadership between 2015 and 2021 marked the transition from experimentation to limited commercialization, but it has often been noted that Waymo’s cautious pace has allowed Tesla to dominate the headlines, if not the road.
As Tesla pushes its Robotaxi narrative, industry veterans like Krafcik remain unconvinced that Musk’s vision matches reality. To them, Tesla’s Robotaxi looks less like a technological leap forward and more like a rebranded Uber — with a company employee still firmly in the front seat.