Tesla is reportedly blocking the city of Austin from releasing Robotaxi records

Tesla is trying to prevent the release of public records related to its robotaxi operations in the city. Reuters requested the records in February, but Tesla is claiming that the information is "confidential, competitively sensitive commercial and/or trade secret information." The city of Austin is not taking a position on the confidentiality of the materials, but Tesla is opposing the release of the records. The records in question involve communications between Tesla and Austin officials over the past two years. Tesla has been testing driverless Model Ys in Austin, which is ahead of schedule according to Elon Musk. Waymo has been operating autonomous taxis in Austin since 2023 and has partnered with Uber in Austin since March. The Texas Attorney General's office has 45 business days to decide whether the records should be made public. If the records are released, it could provide insight into Tesla's self-driving technology and how it compares to other companies like Waymo. Tesla has also recently tried to prevent the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from releasing data related to crashes with its self-driving features. The company's efforts to keep this information private have raised questions about transparency and accountability.