Technology

Tesla’s robotaxi is live: here are some of the first reactions

Published

9 months ago

June 23, 2025

Tesla’s robotaxi is live: here are some of the first reactions

Tesla finally did the damn thing. The company launched its hotly anticipated robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 22nd — and we’re now starting to see some of the first reactions roll in.

But first, we have to get a few important caveats out of the way. Tellingly, the service is not open to the general public, nor is it completely “unsupervised,” as Elon Musk once promised. The vehicles will include Tesla-employed “safety monitors” in the front passenger seat who can react to a dangerous situation by hitting a kill switch. Other autonomous vehicle operators would place safety monitors in the driver or passenger seats, but typically only during the testing phase. Tesla is unique in its use of safety monitors during commercial service.

The rides are limited to a geofenced area of the city that has been thoroughly mapped by the company. And in some cases, Tesla is using chase cars and remote drivers as additional backup. (Some vehicles have been spotted without chase vehicles.)

The service is invite only at launch, according to Tesla’s website. A number of pro-Tesla influencers have received invites, which should raise questions about how unbiased these first critical reactions will be. Tesla hasn’t said when the service will be available to the general public.

The limited trial includes 10-20 Model Y vehicles with “Robotaxi” branding on the side. The fully autonomous Cybercab that was first revealed last year won’t be available until 2026 at the earliest. The service operates in a small, relatively safe area of Austin from 6AM to 12AM, avoiding bad weather, highways, airports, and complex intersections.

Despite those hours, the robotaxi service seems to have gotten off to a slow start. Several invitees had yet to receive the robotaxi app by 1PM ET on Sunday. Sawyer Merritt, who posts pro-Tesla content on X, said he saw 30 Waymo vehicles go by while waiting for Tesla’s robotaxi service to start. Musk posted at 1:12PM that the service would be available later that afternoon, adding that initial customers would pay a “flat fee” of $4.20 for rides — a weed joke with which Musk has a troubled history.

While riders waited, the company published a new robotaxi page to its website detailing a lot of the rules and guidelines of the service. Visitors are invited to sign up for updates about when Tesla’s robotaxi service may come to their area. (Musk has said there could be up to a thousand robotaxis on the road “in a few months.”)

After finally being granted access to the app, Merritt posted an image of the service area map, which appeared to cover a small area bordered by the Colorado River to the north, Highway 183 to the east, Highways 290 and 71 to the south, and Zilker Part to the west.

And then the rides began — and they appeared to be mostly uneventful. Several invitees livestreamed themselves summoning their first cars, interacting with the UI, and then arriving at their destination. Several videos lasted hours, as the invitees would conclude a trip and then hail another car immediately after. One tester, Bearded Tesla Guy, described the app’s interface as “basically Uber.” Many had some difficulty finding the pickup location of their waiting Tesla robotaxi.

“This is like Pokemon hunting,” one person on Herbert Ong’s livestream said, “but its robotaxi hunting.”

Once inside, the Tesla-employed safety monitor would ask the riders to show their robotaxi apps to prove their identities. Otherwise the safety monitors kept silent throughout the ride, despite riders trying to get them to talk. I’m assuming that Tesla will need to come up with some other way to identify their riders if they plan on removing the safety monitors from the passenger seat. Waymo, for example, asks customers to unlock their vehicle through the ridehail app.

The rear screen instructs the riders to fasten their seatbelts, and after pressing an animated “start ride” button, the vehicle gets underway. Riders can also start the ride from a similar button in the app. Since riders are registering for the robotaxi app using their preexisting Tesla profiles, they’re greeted with their preferred music apps on the rear screen with all their playlists and saved tracks.

The front display shows a visualization similar to consumer vehicles using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature — even though Musk had said the robotaxis are running on a special version of FSD that’s not available to the average Tesla owner. There are “pull over,” “stop in lane,” or “support” buttons on the center display. Another tester, Chuck Cook, said the visualization lacked some of the controls that a normal Tesla might have.

Pressing the support button places the rider in a queue as they wait for the remote operator to connect. On Cook’s livestream, it took approximately two minutes before an operator finally connected. “We appreciate you calling in,” the operator said (though the cellular connection was poor). “We’re here for any issues to support your ride.”

Throughout the various trips, the robotaxis encountered a bevy of normal situations, like U-turns, speed bumps, pedestrians, construction, and more. The vehicles maintained speeds of about 40 mph or slower. Common words to describe the ride was “smooth,” “great,” and “normal.” One tester said on X that they got the robotaxi to “mess up” in a way that required the remote operator to help out — though they declined to describe it as a disengagement.

Ashok Elluswamy, the head of the company’s self-driving team, posted a photo of several dozen people in a room with 10 large monitors on the wall showing live camera feeds from several vehicles. “Robotaxi launch party,” Elluswamy wrote.

Where Tesla goes from here is the real challenge. Musk has said he also wants to launch a robotaxi service in California, where the regulatory process is a lot more complex than Texas. And even though he has said he wants to take things slow, he also claims that Tesla will have over a thousand driverless vehicles on the road “within a few months.”

Meanwhile, Waymo is operating more than 1,500 driverless vehicles in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin — with plans to expand to Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, DC in the near future. The Alphabet-owned company has said it will grow its fleet to 2,000 vehicles by next year.

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Technology

Slay the Spire II is even better with a friend

Published

8 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Slay the Spire II is even better with a friend

Slay the Spire II launched in early access last week, and it’s already an excellent sequel to one of the best roguelikes of all time. In many ways, it’s very similar to its predecessor. Like Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong, Slay the Spire II mostly iterates on an already superb foundation. But it does add online co-op with up to four players. While multiplayer changes the familiar rhythms of Slay the Spire just a bit, it’s still a great way to tackle the arduous climb up the spire.

A round of Slay the Spire II plays essentially the same as the original: In each run, you navigate three different acts across a winding map, slowly making a build by crafting your deck and picking up various perk-giving relics, and fighting enemies, elites, and bosses along the way. Slay the Spire II retains the deliberate, turn-based style of play, meaning that when it’s your turn, you have as much time as you want to decide what to do. Since you can see exactly what your enemies are planning for their next turn, there’s a lot of strategy in deciding how much damage to do and how much defense you might need to set up. Multiplayer adds a slight twist: When it’s your turn, everyone can play simultaneously. That opens up all sorts of new opportunities for planning, but it also requires communication to make sure everyone is using their cards effectively.

My multiplayer partner was my wife, the biggest Slay the Spire fan I know, and on our second run we got a thrilling victory. I played the new Necrobinder character, a necromancer, while she played as the returning Silent, which can make decks built around flurries of shivs. Over the course of the run, we accidentally settled into a strategy where I focused on applying the Vulnerable status to as many enemies as possible before my wife would rain down shivs upon our foes.

Slay the Spire II doesn’t encourage teamwork only in battles. At a campfire rest stop, you can choose to mend a friend’s health to help them out. (Some of the new enemies are tough, so I’m glad this is an option.) You each get a vote on which path to take next on the map. Everyone can draw on the map, too — as I learned many times after seeing the doodles my wife made when I would spend too long in the shop.

Since we had to communicate so much, our winning run took about an hour and a half, slower than how fast I could blast through runs in the first game. When we finally defeated the Act 3 boss, though, it was even more satisfying than most of my solo wins because we did it together. My one complaint is that co-op requires you to each play online on your own copy of the game, and that, because there’s no couch co-op, we each had to play on separate devices even though we were sitting on the couch right next to each other.

Those are annoying tradeoffs, but multiplayer is such a fun addition to Slay the Spire that I don’t mind. I can’t wait to try another multiplayer run and see what challenges — and doodles — are in store for me.

Technology

Android fixes 129 security flaws in major phone update

Published

9 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Android fixes 129 security flaws in major phone update

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Most people never think about Android security updates until a headline like this appears. Suddenly, your phone, the device you use for messages, banking, photos and work, becomes part of a global cybersecurity story.

That is exactly what happened this week. Google released its latest Android security updates, and they fix a massive 129 vulnerabilities. Even more concerning, one of them is already being exploited by attackers.

The flaw targets a component connected to Qualcomm graphics hardware, and researchers say it has already been used in limited targeted attacks. If you use an Android phone, this is the kind of update you want installed as soon as possible.

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GOOGLE DISMANTLES 9M-DEVICE ANDROID HIJACK NETWORK

Google’s March Android security update fixes 129 vulnerabilities, including a zero-day flaw already exploited in targeted attacks. (Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Android security flaw already targeted by attackers

One vulnerability in particular has security researchers paying close attention. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2026-21385. Google says there are signs it is already being used in targeted attacks. That makes it a zero-day vulnerability.

In simple terms, attackers discovered the flaw before many devices received a fix. According to Qualcomm, the problem is tied to the graphics processing component inside many of its chipsets. Specifically, the issue involves something called an integer overflow. That technical term means a calculation error can cause memory corruption inside the system. Once that happens, attackers may gain a foothold on the device.

Qualcomm says the flaw impacts 235 different chipsets, which means a large number of Android phones could be affected. Google’s Threat Analysis Group discovered the issue and reported it through coordinated disclosure practices. Qualcomm then worked with device makers to release patches.

Why the Android security vulnerability is dangerous

Several of the patched vulnerabilities allow attackers to execute code remotely or gain elevated privileges on a device. One issue inside the Android System component is especially concerning. Google says it could allow remote code execution without any user interaction.

That means an attacker may exploit the flaw without the victim tapping a link or installing an app. In cybersecurity terms, that type of vulnerability ranks among the most dangerous.

The March Android bulletin addresses ten critical flaws across the System, Framework and Kernel components. These parts sit at the core of Android, so any weakness there can ripple across millions of devices.

ANDROID MALWARE HIDDEN IN FAKE ANTIVIRUS APP

Android users are urged to install the latest security patch as manufacturers roll out updates across devices. (Barrington Coombs/PA Images via Getty Images)

Why some Android phones get security updates faster

Google released two patch levels for this update:

2026-03-01 security patch level
2026-03-05 security patch level

The second update includes everything in the first, plus fixes for additional hardware components and third-party software. Google Pixel devices typically receive updates immediately. However, many Android users must wait longer.

Phone manufacturers such as Samsung, Motorola and OnePlus often test the patches before releasing them for specific models. Carriers may also delay updates while they verify compatibility. As a result, some users receive security patches quickly while others wait weeks.

How to protect your Android phone from security threats

Security vulnerabilities are a reality in modern software. The good news is that there are several simple steps that can greatly reduce your risk.

1) Install Android updates quickly

Check for updates regularly and install them as soon as they appear. On most devices, go to Settings, tap Security and privacy or Software update, then select Check for updates and install the latest version if one is available. Security updates often fix vulnerabilities that attackers may already be trying to exploit.

2) Avoid apps from unknown sources

Only download apps from trusted stores like Google Play. Third-party app stores pose a higher risk of malware.

3) Keep Google Play Protect enabled

Google Play Protect, which is built-in malware protection for Android devices, scans apps for malicious behavior and warns you if something suspicious appears. It also automatically removes known malware. However, it is important to note that Google Play Protect may not be enough. Historically, it isn’t 100% foolproof at removing all known malware from Android devices. Therefore, we recommend strong antivirus software because it adds another layer of protection by using deeper threat detection, real-time monitoring and broader malware databases that can catch suspicious apps or files that Google Play Protect may overlook. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com

4) Use strong device security

Set a strong passcode on your phone and turn on fingerprint or face unlock if your device supports it. This helps keep strangers out of your phone if it is lost or stolen.

5) Be cautious with suspicious links

Many attacks still start with phishing messages. Avoid tapping unknown links in texts, emails, or social media messages.

YOUR PHONE SHARES DATA AT NIGHT: HERE’S HOW TO STOP IT

A critical Android zero-day tied to Qualcomm chipsets could allow attackers to gain a foothold on affected devices. (Donato Fasano/Getty Images)

The bigger picture behind Android security updates

This Android update also highlights how modern mobile security works behind the scenes. Google’s Threat Analysis Group frequently discovers vulnerabilities that may already be used in real-world attacks. Those findings trigger coordinated responses involving chip manufacturers, phone makers and security researchers. In this case, Qualcomm received the report in December and provided fixes to device makers in early 2026.

By the time the public bulletin arrived, patches were already moving through the Android ecosystem. The process may look slow from the outside. In reality, it involves dozens of companies working together to prevent widespread exploitation.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Security updates rarely feel exciting. Yet they play a critical role in protecting billions of smartphones around the world. This latest Android update proves that point clearly. A zero-day flaw tied to Qualcomm graphics hardware was already being targeted before many users even knew it existed. Installing updates quickly remains one of the simplest ways to protect your device and your personal data. Most of the time, the update only takes a few minutes. Those few minutes can block attacks that might otherwise compromise your phone. So the next time your Android device prompts you to install a security patch, the better question may be this:

When your phone asks for a security update, do you install it immediately or tap remind me later? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Apple smart home display rumors now point to a fall launch with iOS 27

Published

21 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Apple smart home display rumors now point to a fall launch with iOS 27

The rumored “HomePod with a screen” we’ve heard so much about was reportedly lined up for launch in 2025, and then this spring, and now, according to the latest updates, it’s on the shelf until this fall. Leaker Kosutami posted as much on X last week, and today, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman followed up with similar information, saying its robot arm-equipped cousin is now planned for launch in 2027.

That was supposed to be ready by now, but it is now predicted to arrive later this year, along with the iPhone 18 Pro plus 2027 updates for iOS, macOS, and all the rest. He describes a silver aluminum-cased device with a 7-inch screen and USB-C power port running a version of tvOS 27, while new versions of the HomePod speaker and Apple TV 4K box are also waiting in the wings for that Siri update, and a smart home sensor is in the works, too.