You can date the robotaxi promise by reading the verbs across Tesla's filings, all retrievable through EdgarBeast. In the FY2019 10-K, filed at sec.gov, the network is aspirational: customers would get convenience and additional income 'through participation in an autonomous Tesla ride'-hailing future.
By the FY2021 10-K, the language is still forward-looking but more structured — the company frames new Autopilot or FSD functionalities and 'the autonomous Tesla ride-hailing' network as products it intends to offer. The conditional framing persists: this is something the company expects to establish, not something it operates.
The FY2023 and FY2024 reports tighten the grammar. The FY2024 10-K, filed at sec.gov, names a 'Robotaxi business, a ride-hailing network that will eventually operate fully autonomous vehicles,' which the company expects will open access to a new customer base. The robotaxi has graduated from a described future into a named line of business — but note the surviving hedge: 'will eventually.'
Tracking the verbs is a disciplined honesty check because it strips the press cycle out. A demo or an event can make the robotaxi feel imminent; the filing language tells you what the company is willing to commit to in a document with legal liability attached. 'Intend to establish in the future' and 'will eventually operate' are both deferrals, just better-dressed ones.
The fair read is neither cynical nor credulous: Tesla has been remarkably consistent about the destination across five years of 10-Ks, and equally consistent about keeping the arrival date conditional. Read the sec.gov language next to the 2019 version and you see a promise that has been formalized faster than it has been fulfilled. Disclosure trail via EdgarBeast.