Tesla is eyeing Los Angeles for its Robotaxi operation, a new job posting from the company suggests, as it aims to expand its service area in California.

Tesla has been operating its Robotaxi platform in California for several months now, first launching it in July in the Bay Area, spanning from San Francisco to San Jose, giving those who have access to the ride-hailing suite a pretty substantial service area to travel within.

However, the California operation is far from complete, as Tesla is aiming to expand to Los Angeles, a city that sits roughly seven hours south of San Francisco, but is among the most popular markets for its vehicles.

LA is also an ideal location for Robotaxi expansion because of its reputation as a hotspot for ride-sharing services.

Tesla is hiring a Vehicle Operator for its Robotaxi program in Marina Del Rey, a seaside community in Los Angeles County, located near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and several other hotspots. It is a frequent location of travel for tourists, making it ideal for Robotaxi:

Tesla Robotaxi expanding to Los Angeles… 👀 pic.twitter.com/ULBDmgl8Yq

— Jonathan Stokes (@jonathanwstokes) September 30, 2025

There is a substantial difference between how Tesla operates Robotaxi in California compared to Texas, the other state that currently allows passengers to hail a ride through the Tesla Robotaxi app.

In Texas, the majority of rides are considered “driverless,” as there is nobody sitting in the driver’s seat.

This applies to any ride that does not utilize any of the Texas freeways, as highways will require a driver in the seat, something Tesla did when its geofence in Austin expanded to include interstates.

Tesla adjusts Robotaxi safety monitor strategy in Austin with new service area

In California, things are a bit different. The “Safety Monitor” sits in the driver’s seat, regardless of destination or route. This has drawn some criticism, but Tesla has taken this step in an effort to keep passengers and traffic as safe as possible, recognizing that this is essential for these early rides.

Eventually, and potentially as soon as the end of this year, Tesla could remove Safety Monitors from vehicles altogether, as CEO Elon Musk has hinted this is a possibility.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says huge improvements are coming to what is arguably its coolest feature: Actually Smart Summon (ASS).

Last September, Tesla finally launched ASS, a widely anticipated improvement from its previous Summon iteration, which aims to allow owners to literally summon their vehicle in locations like parking lots.

Tesla finally launches Actually Smart Summon and Dumb Summon

It is one of the most unique things Tesla offers with its Full Self-Driving program.

However, it is still definitely a work in progress. ASS provided owners with a wide variety of improvements, including better range, more accuracy, and better overall performance. It still has its shortcomings, though.

Personally, I’ve found it to be a useful feature, but I also have my own complaints with it. Sometimes, I find it to be too hesitant, or not work at all:

Here’s a very professionally done illustration:

We were at the Red X, the car was at the Blue X, the Green X with the arrow is where the car was stopped, the arrow shows the direction it was facing. pic.twitter.com/tVm5ATajrr

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 6, 2025

It seems Tesla is working to improve ASS as much as possible, and one of these improvements includes the ability to summon your car from a different level in a parking garage.

The goal would be to wait at the ground floor, where the exit is, and use ASS from the Tesla app to have the car arrive without having to deal with the elevators, stairs, and other inconveniences.

One owner said ASS would be most useful in a multi-level garage, but it currently does not function as intended. They suggested an altitude sensor “to make it possible to use FSD reliably in garages.”

Musk agreed and said that the inability to use ASS in multi-level garages would not be an issue for long:

Not for long

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 28, 2025

This would be an incredible improvement from what ASS is currently capable of. Of course, it has shown to be greatly improved since its early iterations.

However, there are still some things that need to be fixed in terms of its overall performance and its ability to handle less straightforward scenarios.

SpaceX is targeting Monday, October 13, for the eleventh test flight of its Starship launch system. The launch window is expected to open at 6:15 p.m. CT. 

Similar to past Starship missions, a live webcast will begin about 30 minutes before launch on SpaceX’s website, X account, and X TV app. As with all SpaceX tests, the estimated timeline for Starship Flight 11 remains subject to change based on conditions and readiness.

Super Heavy booster landing test

The upcoming mission will build on the data gathered from Starship’s tenth test flight, focusing on booster performance and upper-stage capabilities. The Super Heavy booster, previously flown on Flight 8, will launch with 24 flight-proven Raptor engines, according to SpaceX in a blog post on its official website. Its primary objective is to validate a new landing burn engine configuration designed for the next generation of Super Heavy.

Instead of returning to Starbase, the Super Heavy booster will follow a trajectory toward the Gulf of America. During descent, it will ignite 13 engines before transitioning to a five-engine divert phase and then completing the landing burn with three central engines, entering a full hover while still above the ocean surface, followed by shutdown and dropping into the Gulf of America.

Starship upper-stage experiments

The Starship upper stage for Flight 11 will carry out a series of in-space demonstrations, including the deployment of eight Starlink simulators that are comparable in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. These payloads will reenter and burn up during descent. A planned Raptor engine relight in orbit will also provide valuable test data.

To evaluate the upper stage’s resilience during reentry, SpaceX engineers have intentionally removed heat shield tiles from select areas to stress-test Starship’s thermal protection system. The vehicle will attempt new maneuvers during descent, including a banking profile and subsonic guidance algorithms intended to simulate future return-to-launch-site missions. The upper stage will ultimately target a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX has already posted a link to the livestream for Starship Flight 11: