Elon Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla says he’s confident the world will have driverless taxis on the road by next year.
Mr Musk proposed his idea to investors this week, saying the scheme would operate on the same business model as Uber or Airbnb.
This is Mr Musk’s second attempt at launching this idea. Last time he said it would have self-driving taxis up and running by 2018. But this time he claims he has improved computer hardware that will allow his dream to become a reality.
He added that this custom-designed chip is the best available and a significant milestone in self-driving.
Tesla's vehicles are not yet at the standard of autonomy needed to earn the label "self-driven". Motoring experts say so far technology has brought cars to Level 4 autonomy, which means they can drive themselves with a human on standby. But a car needs to be a Level 5 standard to truly call itself independent.
None of Tesla’s cars have reached this target to date.
Mr Musk will also have to navigate technical and legal challenges to have his driverless car accepted. Robo-cars are not yet deemed as sophisticated or roadworthy as cars with drivers, nor safe enough for public roads.
