Elon Musk Shares His Concern That Tesla Robotaxis Operating In Public Might be Sabotaged by Tesla Detractors – Musk Says, “Mentally Unstable People Might Sabotage Robotaxi”

Tesla has launched its first-ever Robotaxi service, allowing the public to request fully autonomous Model Y rides.

This marks a significant milestone for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, who has been promising for nearly a decade that level 5 fully self-driving technology is just around the corner.

However, as we finally enter Tesla’s Robotaxi era, Musk seems more worried than excited.

Musk’s main worry is the threat from malicious people who might tamper with Robotaxi vehicles on public roads, which could harm Tesla’s reputation.

Musk issued the warning in response to Tesla investor Jay4Tesla (Jay), who had noted that Tesla critics have been particularly outspoken against the EV maker’s Robotaxi rollout.

These “detractors” include a broad range of people, such as those who hold short positions on Tesla stock, have a personal dislike for Elon Musk, believe Tesla FSD is not yet ready for real-world use, or come from competing companies in the Robotaxi industry.

However, Tesla investor Jay specifically pointed to Dan O’Dawd, CEO of Green Hills Software, and Roger, a self-described “Republican Tesla Permabear and Despiser of AI and Carvana Lies,” as particularly problematic.

Jay responded to Dan and Roger’s X post criticizing Tesla’s Robotaxi rollout, writing…

“As FSD launch is imminent, it seems clowns, including these two, are getting increasingly active on X.”

Elon Musk agreed and warned that bad actors might interfere with Robotaxis to provoke mistakes and damage Tesla's reputation.

Musk wrote…

“These mentally unstable people might try to sabotage Robotaxi.”

This is definitely a valid concern. As the Robotaxi rollout starts, we’ve observed numerous tests that push Tesla’s full self-driving software to its extremes.

These mentally unstable assholes might try to sabotage robotaxi

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2025

We have observed people pushing child-sized mannequins in front of moving Tesla Model Ys with the latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) software making the driving decisions.

Among other methods, we’ve also seen attempts to test the FSD software by tricking the vision system into thinking there is a road when, in fact, there is a wall.

So far, these tests have been conducted in controlled environments, primarily to explore the system’s limitations; however, the same failure modes could also occur in the real world, potentially leading to Robotaxi accidents.

To address this issue while the system is still in its early stages, Tesla has enforced several major restrictions on the Robotaxi service.

The current Robotaxi service is not the scenario that Elon Musk promised, where "Tesla flips a switch and millions of Tesla vehicles are awakened and suddenly able to drive."

Instead, the current Robotaxi trial has several major restrictions. These include…

• First, the Robotaxi service is limited to a small geofenced area in Austin, Texas.

  Tesla Geofence vs Waymo geofence https://t.co/0nTYBfPXQx

  — Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 22, 2025

• Second, the service is exclusively offered to a select group of Tesla enthusiasts who are contacted directly by the EV manufacturer to participate in the program.
• Third, Tesla owners cannot use their own vehicles as Robotaxis or send their vehicles to serve in Tesla’s network as Robotaxis.
• Fourth, although there is no one behind the wheel, Tesla places an employee in the passenger seat to monitor each trip.

Examining the early Robotaxi rides, Tesla seems to have equipped all vehicles currently providing public rides with a sort of “kill switch” for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.

Tesla employees sitting in the passenger seat always keep their hands over the automatic door opening button, which appears to have been repurposed as a kill switch.

Some people in the live chat noticed that every single safety monitor is holding the door handle with a finger next to the door open button.

Trigger for AEB perhaps? 🤔 https://t.co/aqupQRsRHk pic.twitter.com/AC4YKWsfOm

— yas (@future_yas) June 22, 2025

Overall, despite these limitations, the initial response to Tesla’s first paid Robotaxi service seems optimistic.

However, please let me know what you think in the comments below. Share your ideas by clicking the RED “Add new comment” button below. Also, be sure to visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

Image: Screenshot from Dan O’Dawd’s Live FSD demonstration Video on X

For more information, check out: A Tesla Cybertruck Owner Says She’s Extremely Happy With Tesla After Her Truck Threw Up Several Error Codes & Became Undrivable – Adds “Now, That’s What I Call Top-Notch Service”

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.