According to Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) and a spokesperson from the California Public Utilities Commission, Tesla has rapidly increased its AI-powered ride-hailing service in California, registering 1,655 vehicles and 798 drivers as of December 2025. This is a significant jump from just 28 cars and 128 drivers in August. The scale of this growth highlights the company's commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence for real-world autonomous transportation solutions, positioning Tesla as a major competitor in the evolving mobility-as-a-service sector. This expansion presents substantial business opportunities in AI fleet management, autonomous vehicle data analytics, and software infrastructure for ride-hailing platforms (Source: Sawyer Merritt, CPUC).

According to Sawyer Merritt on Twitter, Tesla's latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) V14.1.4 update is not limited to influencers, but is also being rolled out to regular Tesla owners with small followings, as evidenced by direct messages from owners with as few as 300 followers (source: Sawyer Merritt, Twitter, Oct 26, 2025). This broader deployment demonstrates Tesla's accelerated confidence in its AI-powered autonomous driving system, signaling a shift toward mainstream adoption. The move is likely to accelerate real-world data collection, essential for improving neural network models and supporting regulatory approval. For the AI industry, this presents new business opportunities in autonomous vehicle data analytics, edge computing, and safety validation services as more users gain access to advanced driving features.