Expectations are high for the unveiling of Tesla's robotaxi at a Hollywood studio tonight.
The company is expected to show off the so-called "Cybercab" vehicle, which will reportedly be fully self-driving with no steering wheel or pedals, during an event called "We, Robot" at Warner Bros. movie studios in Burbank, California, Thursday at 7 p.m. PT.
"The future will be streamed live," Tesla said in a post on X, promoting the event.
The unveiling was first announced back in April and was originally scheduled for August, but the date was pushed back to make "an important design change" the vehicle.
The unveiling comes as Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence as it struggles to sell electric vehicles.
Some analysts are predicting big things for the company as it takes a huge step toward a long-awaited robotaxi service but others say Musk has yet to demonstrate Tesla's system can travel safely without a human driver ready to step in to prevent crashes.
"I think it's one of the most important events that Tesla has ever held," Dan Ives, analyst with Wedbush Securities, told CNN. "I think it will be viewed five to 10 years from now as what the iPhone launch moment was for Apple."
While Tesla has been floating the idea of robotaxis since 2019, a plan to get them on the road has never materialized. Most industry experts aren't expecting the company to show off a fully functional Cybercab that's ready to hit the streets on Thursday. Instead, they think the company will unveil a vehicle that's lacking the necessary autonomous technology.
If Tesla were to show off software and hardware that can work without human supervision, Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, thinks the company would be doing it in an actual city or on an actual freeway -- not a closed lot.
"We just haven't seen any indication that that is what Tesla is working toward," Walker Smith told The Associated Press.
"The challenge is developing a combination of hardware and software plus the human and digital infrastructure to actually safely drive a vehicle even without a steering wheel on public roads in any conditions," he added. "Tesla has been giving us that demo every year, and it's not reassuring us."
To make up for what may be lacking with the Cybercab, many are expecting Tesla to also unveil a new, more affordable passenger vehicle.
The reveal could also include a preview of Tesla's human-like robot known as "Optimus."
You can watch a livestream of the "We, Robot" event on X.