Elon Musk announced that Tesla plans to remove safety monitors from its Robotaxi vehicles in Austin within three weeks, potentially paving the way for completely driverless operation by the end of the year. This follows years of promises from Musk about Tesla achieving full autonomy, a claim that has repeatedly failed to materialize as deadlines have come and gone. The current “Full Self-Driving” system has been in beta for over a decade and still requires some level of human oversight. While Tesla launched a limited taxi network in Austin earlier this year, it still relies on safety operators seated in the vehicles, meaning they aren't truly driverless yet. Musk's latest timeline raises skepticism given his history of setting ambitious deadlines that often don't pan out. The mention of removing safety drivers could apply to only a few vehicles, similar to a recent instance where a fully unoccupied vehicle was delivered as a publicity stunt. Musk also hinted at significant future hardware enhancements, such as AI5, which he claims will vastly improve self-driving capabilities. However, each hardware upgrade might necessitate retrofitting existing vehicles, which could lead to substantial costs for Tesla amid ongoing legal challenges regarding self-driving technology. As Tesla grapples with these issues, its main competitor, Waymo, has been successfully operating fully driverless vehicles for years. Musk's focus on lofty goals, like understanding life and spreading consciousness, raises questions about his priorities as CEO and whether he's steering Tesla effectively.