The vehicles will have safety monitors and may not operate in bad weather, making them more restricted than the fully autonomous vehicles promised by Elon Musk.

Tesla deployed a small group of self-driving taxis picking up paying passengers on Sunday in Austin, Texas, with CEO Elon Musk announcing the "robotaxi launch" and social-media influencers posting videos of their first rides.

June 22 (UPI) -- Tesla will begin its launch of robotic taxis in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, Elon Musk announced. "The @Tesla_AI robotaxi launch begins in Austin this afternoon with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee!" Musk said in a post on social media.