Phil Trubey, founder of Websense, said that Tesla’s latest earnings call outlined plans for a rapidly expanding robotaxi network. This network could potentially serve half of the U.S. population, with unsupervised full self-driving available in select areas by 2025.
“Austin service area will expand in “2 weeks” to a significantly bigger area than Waymo’s, 10x Tesla’s current size,” said Trubey. “Next areas include SF Bay Area, Florida, Arizona, Nevada. Robotaxi available to half of US population by end of this year, subject to regulatory approval (I’d take this with a grain of salt). Unsupervised FSD for personal use, by the end of 2025 in certain geographies in the US. FSD hardware in robotaxi cars is identical to what customer cars have.”
Current robotaxi services are limited by operational design domains—pre-mapped zones where vehicles are permitted to drive. According to analyses of Waymo’s business, these geographic boundaries mean riders often cannot travel into or out of service areas, including key destinations like airports. Research indicates that if autonomous vehicles (AVs) focus only on high-demand corridors and wealthier neighborhoods, they risk exacerbating mobility inequities rather than expanding access for low-income communities. Trubey’s summary of Tesla’s ambition to cover half the U.S. population and integrate robotaxis with existing customer cars over time suggests that a hybrid model—autonomy plus human drivers—may be better positioned to reach underserved areas than geofenced-only AV fleets.
Waymo has expanded its operations rapidly, now offering 24/7 robotaxi services across multiple metropolitan areas including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, and several Texas cities. Its Bay Area zone recently grew to more than 260 square miles and now includes freeway segments such as US-101 and I-280, with curbside pickups at San Jose Mineta International Airport. However, Waymo’s documentation and external research emphasize that its physical operational design domain boundaries remain a fundamental limitation: riders must stay inside specific polygons and often cannot reach nearby suburbs or airports if they lie beyond the mapped area.
Tesla has begun rolling out a robotaxi-style service in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. Drivers are still present for safety while the company works towards full autonomy. Reuters reports that Elon Musk plans to double the Austin robotaxi fleet and expand into 8–10 major U.S. metros, aiming to serve about half the U.S. population. In the Bay Area, local coverage notes Tesla’s ride-hail service already spans from San Francisco into Marin, Oakland, and down past Fremont into San Jose—offering a broader footprint than some geofenced competitors but still involving human drivers in the loop. Trubey’s commentary reflects this trajectory, including future plans for unmanned delivery and eventually integrating customer cars into the network.
Phil Trubey is a tech entrepreneur and angel investor best known as the founder of Websense, a pioneering web-filtering and internet security company that later became Forcepoint. He launched Websense in the mid-1990s, led it through venture funding and an initial public offering (IPO) in 2000, remaining a major shareholder as it grew into a leading enterprise security vendor before being acquired in multibillion-dollar deals. Now “re-retired,” Trubey invests in startups and frequently comments on Tesla, autonomy, and technology business strategy on X.
