Tesla has begun offering a paid ride-hailing service across the San Francisco Bay Area, expanding a pilot that started in Austin last month. Invitations for the service were sent to select users through the Tesla app, and CEO Elon Musk confirmed the launch, saying riders can now hail a Tesla in the region. The fleet is not yet driverless. Each vehicle operates with a human behind the wheel using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software, reflecting California’s rules that prohibit carrying paying passengers in fully autonomous cars without additional permits. Tesla currently holds only a Department of Motor Vehicles testing permit that requires a safety driver and must obtain separate approvals from the California Public Utilities Commission before it can remove human operators or charge fares for driverless rides. The limited rollout underlines the regulatory hurdles Tesla faces as it pivots toward robotaxis amid slowing electric-vehicle sales. On an earnings call on 23 July, Musk said he aims to make autonomous ride-hailing available to roughly half of the U.S. population by year-end, and the company has also held preliminary talks with Nevada officials about expanding service there. California’s step-by-step approval process, which took Alphabet’s Waymo several years to navigate, could complicate Tesla’s timeline. Tesla’s move places it in direct competition with Waymo, Uber and Lyft on their home turf. The new geofence spans San Francisco, San Jose and Berkeley, covering about 7.7 million residents. Whether and when Tesla can transition from supervised driving to true robotaxis will depend on its ability to satisfy state regulators’ safety and pilot-program requirements.