Gary Black Thinks Expectations For Tesla's Robotaxi Launch Are Too High: 'Currently, Tesla's Autonomy Can't…'

Future Fund LLC's managing director, Gary Black, says that analysts may be expecting too much from Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) June Robotaxi launch in Austin.

What Happened: Sharing his thoughts, the investor initially outlined how all opinions about the company's stock performance should be encouraged, without backlash, in a Sunday evening post on the social media platform X.

"Currently, Tesla's autonomy can't be operated hands off/eyes off in most areas of the country, yet many on X continue to analyze it as if it's already unsupervised (i.e., exclude the cost of a driver in their analyses)," Black said in the post.

He also outlined how the EV giant's risk distribution for the Austin Robotaxi launch was "asymmetrical" due to the company's lackluster PR. "No mishaps are expected, but even one injury or accident will get outsized negative press coverage," he said.

Black also cited data, suggesting the technology still has a ways to go before it can operate unsupervised autonomous driving optimally. Tesla's "450 miles per critical disengagement" was still well short of the "10,000 miles likely needed to be considered by investors to be considered unsupervised autonomy." He said.

Why It Matters: The autonomous driving sector is gaining momentum in the U.S. as ride-sharing company Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) announced partnerships with Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY) as well as May Mobility Inc.

Uber isn't the only company making moves in the sector, as Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo also recently announced a partnership with Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM). The collaboration will focus on personal ownership of AVs.

Elsewhere, Elon Musk's Tesla recently took to the social media platform X as the company touted its FSD technology through a video that showcased a Tesla vehicle dropping off a passenger at the LAX airport.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

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