Tesla CEO Elon Musk (r.) accompanies former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign event at the site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 2024.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
Tesla Stocks rose on Monday following a report that President-elect Donald Trump's transition team plans to make a federal framework to regulate self-driving vehicles a top priority for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Tesla shares rose nearly 7% in midday trading following the release of the Bloomberg News report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
CNBC was unable to independently verify the report and has reached out to the Trump team and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the Transportation Department tasked with overseeing autonomous driving technologies, for comment.
Musk has been a central figure in the business world pushing for Trump's return to the White House ahead of this month's election. The tech billionaire is now set to benefit from the close relationship he has developed with the Republican politician, who previously served his first term as president between 2017 and 2021.
Last week, Trump chose Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency – or “DOGE” for short. Expenditure.
A federal framework to regulate self-driving vehicles would be a major boon for Musk's Tesla, which has been promising fully self-driving vehicles for several years but has not yet released a car that can drive autonomously without a human behind the wheel.
Tesla's long-term vision is to build a fleet of so-called robotaxis, autonomous vehicles that can drive people around without human supervision.
Last month, Musk unveiled Tesla's long-awaited robotaxi – a concept car called “Cybercab,” a $30,000 two-seater vehicle with no steering wheels or pedals.
Tesla has already been beaten in the robotaxi race by Google's Waymo, which is among the few companies that have successfully introduced self-driving cars on public roads.
During an event introducing Tesla's Cybercab and “Robovan” vehicles, Musk said he expects Tesla to introduce “unsupervised” full self-driving technology in its Model 3 and electric vehicles in Texas and California next year The company's Model Y will be put into operation.
Full Self-Driving, or FSD for short, is Tesla's premium driver assistance system, which is currently available in a “monitored” version for Tesla electric vehicles. FSD currently requires a human driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.
According to Bloomberg, Trump's transition team is reportedly seeking policy leaders for the Department of Transportation to develop a federal regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles.
They include Emil Michael, a former Uber executive, and Republican Reps. Sam Graves of Missouri and Garret Graves of Louisiana, who are not related, Bloomberg reported.
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