The viral video of a Tesla driverless car cruising the streets of Austin lasted fewer than 10 seconds, but even that was enough to make grown men emotional.
Farzad Mesbahi jumped into his Cybertruck and sped downtown, hunting for a glimpse of a driverless Model Y Juniper. Clips of the vehicle—turning west onto James Street from South Congress Avenue—began circulating online just a day after Austin officially listed Elon Musk’s company as a technology tester.
While Mesbahi, himself a former Tesla employee, gave up after a half-hour in the heat, he agreed with many bulls that the day would prove historic.
“This has been part of the [investment] thesis for a really, really long time,” he later told a podcast, explaining why he livestreamed his search for the elusive black crossover with the word “Robotaxi” emblazoned on the door.
The widely-shared nine-second clip already has over 15 million views on Musk’s own X platform.
