Tesla receives ten robotaxi permits for Las Vegas Strip, airport pickups barred

Tesla filed an application with the Nevada Transportation Authority in June seeking permission for 5,000 autonomous robotaxis to run on the Las Vegas Strip, a corridor that generated about $8.8 billion in gaming revenue in 2025. The authority responded a month later, granting a “maximum fleet of ten (10) fully autonomous vehicles” confined to an approved Strip corridor, limited to 45 mph, and barred from picking up passengers within a quarter-mile of Harry Reid International Airport without airport operator consent.

The permit also requires each car to be marked “Robotaxi,” to notify riders they are in a driverless vehicle, and to have “appropriate human supervision” under Society of Automotive Engineers guidelines, a stricter rule than Tesla’s operations in Austin. Clark County, while not issuing the permit, highlighted the impact on fire, business-license and airport departments and is working to accommodate the new service. Tesla is investing $3.1 million to retrofit a 37,000-square-foot building in the southwest Las Vegas valley and is recruiting staff for the robotaxi program. The modest allowance contrasts with Amazon’s Zoox, which already operates up to 100 vehicles on the Strip after receiving a larger permit and a federal exemption.