Mark your calendars: Tesla CEO Elon Musk recommended this afternoon that his electrical automaker goes all-in on autonomous automobile tech—and that Tesla’s robotaxi might be unveiled on August 8.

The announcement, posted by Musk on X Friday afternoon, capped off a bizarre day of experiences and counter-reports that despatched Tesla’s inventory on a roller-coaster trip, slipping down 6 factors on the day earlier than recovering in after-hours buying and selling. Earlier within the day, Reuters reported that Tesla had canceled long-gestating plans to develop an inexpensive electrical automobile for the plenty. The “next generation” vehicle is broadly regarded as key to the electrical automaker’s survival, particularly as competition heats up in the EV space. Instead, the information company reported, Tesla would deal with constructing a robotaxi, which might use a lot of the identical {hardware} because the low-cost automobile.

But Musk logged on to X to disclaim no less than a part of the Reuters story. “Reuters is lying (again),” he posted, with out specifying what the information company received mistaken. Hours later, he appeared to verify a part of the report by posting that Tesla’s subsequent product launch would deal with robotaxis.

The obvious pivot is stunning for a number of causes.

Tesla has promised for years, however has not delivered, really self-driving expertise. In 2016, Tesla said that every one the corporate’s automobiles could be shipped with the {hardware} essential to drive themselves—permitting drivers to nap and even ship their vehicles cross-country with out anybody inside.

In a “master plan” posted by Musk that 12 months, he outlined a (nonetheless) futuristic situation by which Tesla house owners might share their autonomous automobiles with others. “When true self-driving is approved by regulators,” he wrote, prospects would “be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you’re at work or on vacation.” In 2019, Musk told a room full of investors that by the subsequent 12 months, the automaker would have “over a million Tesla cars on the road with full self-driving hardware.” That did not occur.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s driver help tech, known as Full Self-Driving, is technically solely a “level 2” on the five-point autonomy scale, which means the automotive can pilot itself solely with driver supervision. Tesla’s newest self-driving software program replace is the primary to not be labeled as “beta” by the automaker.

Still, Tesla’s driver help expertise has been closely criticized by the National Transportation Safety Board, the US’s transportation security watchdog. A two-year investigation by the nation’s high highway security regulator concluded late last year with a dedication that Tesla’s expertise could possibly be misused by drivers as a result of it didn’t pressure them to pay enough consideration whereas driving. Tesla, which mentioned it did not agree with regulators’ evaluation, pushed out fixes to prospects through over-the-air software program updates. Tesla maintains that its driver help options are safer than human drivers.

What’s extra, different autonomous automobile builders have confronted severe rising pains within the final half-decade. A expertise that was as soon as touted as “just around the corner” proved both harder and way more expensive than as soon as deliberate. Today, years after most main auto and tech producers pledged self-driving software program, just some main gamers stay. After billions of {dollars} in devoted analysis and improvement and greater than 7 million miles pushed, Google spinoff Waymo solely gives paid taxi rides in two cities—Phoenix and San Francisco—although it plans to launch in Austin, Texas, in addition to Los Angeles and the broader San Francisco Bay Area quickly. Another robotaxi competitor, General Motors’ Cruise, has put its entire service on pause after a driverless taxi struck and injured a pedestrian, which led to a clash with California regulators. If Tesla needs to roll out robotaxi service in all places its vehicles are offered, its plans might be much more bold than these rivals’, who’ve been engaged on the issue of autonomy for years.