Footage taken by a passenger shows a Tesla Robotaxi getting totally stumped as it tries to escape a parking lot, aimlessly driving in circles while its human "safety monitor" sits bored in the front passenger seat, doing nothing to intervene.
Ladies and gentlemen: the self-driving software that Elon Musk says will be piloting millions of cars by the end of next year.
The video was uploaded by Dan Burkland, a self-described EV enthusiast. In a tweet, he explained that he "threw a curveball" at the robotaxi by having it pick him up in a busy parking lot where the normal exit had been blocked by traffic cones.
And credit to the Model Y, it does recognize that the exit's been coned off. But this minor obstacle ends up throwing the robotaxi through a loop — literally.
As Burkland explains in the video, the temporary exit is where the entrance is, which has pavement markings that show it's one direction only. Bereft of ideas, the robotaxi keeps driving in a circle, vainly searching for another way out that simply isn't there. It was on its sixth lap and probably could've kept looping around for even longer, but Burkland decided to call in support.
INTERVENTION: Tesla Robotaxi Stuck In A Loop In my 16th Robotaxi ride, I threw a curveball at Robotaxi by having it pick me up in a busy parking lot near an event center. The usual parking lot exit was coned off by parking lot attendants which resulted in some difficulties for… pic.twitter.com/sPHkGHYFXK — Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 25, 2025
It's not a great look for Tesla's robotaxi service, which is a limited, invite-only program that operates in Austin and which has already earned the attention of federal regulators for apparently violating numerous traffic laws. But it provides a glimpse of how Tesla's remote support team of teleoperators handle a sticky situation like this, of which many more like it will inevitably come. And spoiler: it takes a minute to sort out.
First, with the car still looping around, a support agent answers Burkland's call to acknowledge they're working on the issue, producing this masterpiece of an understatement.
"It looks like your vehicle seems to be failing to make progress," the support agent says.
One lap later, another support agent gets on the phone, and the car is soon brought to a halt.
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