Elon Musk
Tesla’s ‘Project Alicorn’ and what it means for the Robotaxi platform
Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi ride-hailing service in June, and it’s already taking massive steps to do so.
Tesla has been planning its launch of the Robotaxi ride-hailing suite for years, but now that the company is nearing the operation of a ride-hailing platform for the first time next month, more details are coming forward.
It appears that Tesla has codenamed the Robotaxi suite, along with its ride-hailing app, as ‘Alicorn,’ a mythical creature that combines the characteristics and features of both a unicorn and a pegasus. But why this name?
It potentially could be pointing toward the vehicle’s use as both a passenger car for personal use, as well as a way to bring in passive income, something CEO Elon Musk first talked about in April 2019 when he indicated your car could work while you sleep, bringing in between $10,000 and $30,000 annually.
This would all be earned by your car being used as a driverless Robotaxi.
Tesla doubles down on Robotaxi launch date, putting a big bet on its timeline
Project Alicorn and What It Means for the Robotaxi
The name Alicorn was not recognized until a decompilation of the Tesla mobile app by Tesla App Updates on X last night. Evidently, Tesla is preparing for the June launch of the Robotaxi by inputting some new features into the smartphone app, something that we reported on recently.
Tesla will not launch a Robotaxi app that operates separately from the standard app. Everything will be ingrained into the main Tesla app that you use to access your car.
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In the bigger picture, Tesla adding these specific coding strings means that it is preparing for the launch of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service, something that it has reiterated for all of this year.
Tesla plans to launch the Robotaxi platform in Austin in June, which hints at the timing of the coding to be an indicator that the company is truly ready to get things moving. While the initial rollout will be conservative and will include between 10 and 20 cars, according to Musk, the company is certainly confident that more cities will be enabled later this year for Robotaxi operation.
Ultimately, most of the fleet would ideally be made up of cars that have been purchased by consumers.
Your Tesla as a Robotaxi
Specific coding within the decompiled version of the new Tesla app revealed the ability to call the vehicle owner, meaning Tesla is undoubtedly preparing for vehicles to be driven with operators but without any intervention. Full Self-Driving will take care of the driving.
🚨 As noted by @Tesla_App_iOS, alicorn_button_title_call_driver is present in the new app version’s coding.
This supports an idea Tesla revealed years ago, that people could use their cars to generate revenue by adding them to the Robotaxi platform. https://t.co/QguKUmFVOf pic.twitter.com/E0Otu5OxXV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 7, 2025
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The account explained it:
“You could turn on the rideshare option and start making money, and your car would pick people up and drop them off while you sit in the driver’s seat, but FSD would be doing all the work, and it would just send jobs to your car. Very similar to what you saw in the teaser video not that long ago. Customers would also have the ability to call the driver as well in this scenario.”
Eventually, Teslas will have no drivers and will only operate with Full Self-Driving as Robotaxi technology.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
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This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
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Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
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Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to reports that Volvo is officially discontinuing the LiDAR sensor on two of its cars.
Volvo announced that it would officially scrap LiDAR systems on its EX90 and ES90 vehicles in various markets. In Norway, owners will get a €1,800 compensation for features that will never arrive due to this decision. There will be no option to remove the unit from vehicles, either.
The issue stems from Volvo’s supplier, Luminar, and its bankruptcy filing. Luminar will no longer be able to supply LiDAR units to Volvo for the EX90 and ES90, effectively axing any use the unit has on vehicles. Volvo will phase out the data collection processes via the LiDAR system, and it will not be utilized whatsoever.
Musk saw the story on X and responded, stating:
“I did try to warn them. Humans drive using neural nets and optical sensors. Same is true for robot cars.”
I did try to warn them.
Humans drive using neural nets and optical sensors. Same is true for robot cars.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
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Musk has been publicly vocal about his disdain for LiDAR systems, once calling them “a fool’s errand,” as he has consistently kept the outlook that they are not needed for effective self-driving.
The typical example used as evidence for this by Musk is humans themselves: made with only eyes and memories, humans are capable of navigating a car by using what they can see and what they’ve personally experienced on the road.
Elon Musk argues lidar and radar make self driving cars more dangerous
“Same is true for robot cars,” Musk says, as Teslas have eight exterior cameras that help see everything surrounding the vehicle, and a neural network that analyzes behavior and tendencies with every mile driven.
Tesla is a vision-only self-driving company that ditched sensors and radar several years ago in favor of cameras. Behind this effort, the company has established a reputation for having one of the most robust self-driving platforms in the world.
Musk’s big bet with Tesla on its self-driving program’s strategy has widely paid off. Other companies continue to utilize things like LiDAR, radar, and sensors for effective self-driving, but Tesla has shown that there is more than one way to give consumers a strong and accurate driver assistance suite.
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The real question is: who will be the first company to take Musk’s advice and attempt a self-driving platform based on cameras only, or even license FSD for themselves?
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
