Tesla’s long-awaited robotaxi expansion moved ahead on Friday when regulators approved the company’s application to run autonomous vehicles in a new market.
The Nevada Transportation Authority approved applications from Tesla, Alphabet’s Waymo, and Aviari to operate autonomous vehicles. Tesla can deploy up to 5,000 robotaxis over the next year, while Waymo and Aviari are each allowed up to 1,000 fully autonomous vehicles.
This approval is a big step for Tesla. The company started its AI-powered robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June 2025, but has expanded slowly. Right now, it runs only a few vehicles in cities like Dallas and Houston.
Tesla shares fell a little in premarket trading, similar to the broader market. On Friday, the stock rose more than 5%, and the Nevada news seemed to add to that momentum, although shares were already climbing before the announcement.
As the new week began, Tesla shares were still down for the year. Since the Austin robotaxi launch, gains have been limited, and investors are still waiting for the business to grow in a big way.
If Tesla rolls out more robotaxis across U.S. roads, it could boost the stock. For now, the Nevada approval is just a permit, so Tesla still needs to put the vehicles into service.
Investors are still debating how the robotaxi market will develop, and whether Tesla will be one of several big players or become the main leader. With a market value of about $1.4 trillion, according to FactSet, investors seem to expect Tesla to take a leading role.
Tesla has some key advantages in this race. It has years of real-world self-driving data from hundreds of thousands of its cars already on the road. As a well-known automaker, Tesla can also build many robotaxis quickly, probably at a lower cost than rivals who have to buy vehicles from other suppliers.
