The invite image features the tag line ‘WE, ROBOT’ which is an obvious evolution from the 2004 movie i, Robot (set in the year 2035).

Given the 10/10 event is focused on robotaxis, the reference to the i, robot movie is an interesting one and could have a number of meanings.

The movie featured an Audi RSQ concept car that could autonomous drive itself, but also offered the driver a manual override option which skeptical Detective Spooner (played by Will Smith) was keen to engage.

Perhaps this is a hint to the fact that Tesla will offer both robotaxis without steering wheel and pedals, but also show a version that allows manual driving.

The hardware controls (or lack of) is a critical decision for the company. To recognise the lowest possible cost of vehicle manufacturing, you’d definitely love to remove them if you’re Tesla and plan on making millions of them. The challenge for the company is the software readiness as this venture into level 4/5 robotaxi is a bet the company-level decision.

One of the things I’ll be looking for from the 10/10 event is just how aggressively Tesla pursues the manufacturing of the robotaxi vehicle. If they get this wrong, they could have tens of thousands of robotaxis produced, but not able to drive autonomously without humans, creating a massive expense without income.

If Tesla is successful in iterating their software from FSD (Supervised) to FSD (Unsupervised) in the next 12-18 months while Robotaxi production is established, then the timeline will work perfectly.

There are already millions of Tesla vehicles on the road and hundreds of thousands that already subscribe or have purchased the FSD Software Upgrade, with a fraction expected to enter their private vehicles in the robotaxi fleet in an effort to derive revenue from their cars when not in use.

It is possible the i, Robot reference was also a hint that we’ll see Tesla’s humanoid robot @Tesla_Optimus at the event, with Sonny the humanoid robot playing a key role in the movie (let’s ignore the fact it went rogue).

There’s lots of questions that remain outstanding when it comes to Tesla offering a robotaxi service, with perhaps the biggest being the question of where these cars are going to recharge.

A great ‘one more thing’ highlight would certainly be the deployment of humanoid robots at Superchargers, but that also raises the question of how they charge themselves, as even the NACS connector port is large for the robot body to accommodate.

Tesla could buy dedicated real estate in key cities and install wireless chargers for their own robotaxi vehicles, but that fails to answer the recharging question for those private customers looking to enrol. I really hope Tesla has a better technology solution than to throw humans at the problem.

The even invite is listed below and as we know, the event will be held in Los Angeles at the Warner Bros. Movie Studio lot. It seems very likely this is to enable unapproved robotaxis to provide autonomous rides to attendees without driving on public roads.

When it comes to the number of invites available, its not clear how many people are getting invites, so far it seems a few dozen people have received them, with some pretty high-profile names in the Tesla community missing out (at least for now).

Tesla often sends out invites in waves and with a couple of weeks to go, there’s likely a few to go. Interestingly there are no +1s at this event which suggests the places are limited (perhaps by the number of robotaxis available for test rides).