“In Texas, pretty much anyone can get a [autonomous vehicles] permit who shows up and does a few administrative things,” Carnegie Mellon professor and autonomous vehicle expert Phil Koopman tells The Verge. “If you show up and you tell the state you’re operating and you have insurance, you’re good to go. That’s about it.”

Tesla stock was rising early Friday on the last trading day before the company’s expected robotaxi launch even as Texas Democrats tried to get Musk to delay the start of its service. Shares of the electric vehicle maker were up 1.

It wasn’t walking away from autonomy," GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said last week. "It was walking away from the robotaxi side of it.”