Update, August 19, 2026: Mid-December 2025 empty-car clips were tests. Tesla later ran paid Austin rides with no safety monitor (Tesery: January 2026 public unsupervised rides). That later service is not what the Dec. 14 videos proved. Christmas Eve is a different note: Musk riding with an empty driver seat.
On the weekend of December 13–14, 2025, videos of Tesla Model Y Robotaxis with no one in the car circulated from Austin public streets. On December 14 Elon Musk wrote on X that “testing is underway with no occupants in the car.” Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy posted “And so it begins!” Tesla’s own account added “Slowly, then all at once.” CNBC, TechCrunch, and CBS Austin reported the tests on December 15. This is empty-car testing on Austin roads. It is not a Cybercab, not a national launch, and not the owner FSD (Supervised) stack.
Testing is underway with no occupants in the car
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2025
Key facts
- What was seen: At least one (reports said two) Model Y Robotaxi with no driver and no front-seat monitor, including South Congress / Dawson-area clips.
- Who confirmed: Musk, Dec. 14; Elluswamy’s “And so it begins!”; national and local press the next day.
- What paid service still was: Austin Robotaxi had launched in June 2025 as a small, invite-ish Model Y fleet with a human in the car. Musk’s Dec. 9 “about three weeks” line was the monitor-removal clock — not a claim that paid rides were already empty that weekend.
- What this is not: Unsupervised FSD sold to every owner, or Cybercab volume production.
Empty test car vs paid ride vs owner FSD
An empty Model Y on South Congress is Tesla exercising the Robotaxi software without a safety rider. A paying customer still needed the Tesla app and, that week, usually a monitor. Owner cars still ran FSD (Supervised). Do not collapse those three into “FSD Unsupervised is here.” Goldman’s same-week note — Tesery’s scale-speed piece — is the investor version of the same limit: a test mile is not a fleet.
FAQ
Could anyone hail an empty Robotaxi on Dec. 14, 2025?
Tesla did not say the public app had dropped the monitor that weekend. The confirmed fact is testing with no occupants.
Were these Cybercabs?
No. Press and video describe Model Y Robotaxis. Cybercab is the two-seat purpose-built car.
Is this the same story as Musk’s Christmas Eve ride?
No. Dec. 14 is empty-car testing. Dec. 24 is Musk in the passenger seat. Different days, different proof.
For owners: an empty Austin Robotaxi does not turn Supervised FSD on your car into a chauffeur. Stay in the loop if the car is in your name.
Featured photo: Tesla Model Y (file photo of the body style used as Austin Robotaxi, not a Dec. 14 dashcam still). Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Related: Musk’s three-week monitor timeline · Christmas Eve empty-seat ride · Goldman: the metric is scale speed · Austin fleet was still ~20 cars
