So, it seems that Tesla still doesn't have permits to operate a self-driving taxi service in California. But after launching just such a service for a select few users in Austin, the company appears to be doing the same thing in the Bay Area, but here they're not calling it self-driving.

After a month of Elon Musk teasing in Xitter posts that Tesla's Robotaxis — that is what they're branded as in Austin — would be coming shortly to the Bay Area, he announced Thursday that "You can now ride-hail a Tesla in the SF Bay Area, in addition to Austin." Note that there's no "robotaxi" or "autonomous" or "self-driving" in that statement, but what is this if not a test of the same thing they're doing in Austin, in which safety operators ride in the cars, but the cars are driving themselves? Also, the original post that Musk retweeted came from Tesla AI.

While there is currently little to no regulation of autonomous cars in Texas — that permitting regulation doesn't kick in until September, and Tesla seems to be taking advantage of this in Austin — California now has plenty of permitting requirements for these robocars. You may recall that Uber recklessly put a self-driving car on the streets of San Francisco back in 2016, without a permit, and got punished for it. And Google's Waymo took a far slower and cautious approach, testing its vehicles over years on SF's streets and not rolling them out to regular passengers until 2023.

Tesla's Robotaxis that are in testing in Austin are essentially regular Tesla models with added visual sensors added, and with an upgraded version of the company's "full-self-driving" software — software that is currently at the center of multiple lawsuits questioning the company's claims, including one filed by CA Attorney General Rob Bonta three years ago that is still pending.

And in California, Tesla appears to only have a license to provide "chauffeur" service, with a driver at the wheel and no self-driving mentioned, which seems to be why today's launch is billed as "ride-hailing." But the invites for the service are likely going out to a select few Musk faithful, as they did in Austin, and it's easy to question what's going on behind the scenes here.

It will only take one of these users boasting on social media about riding in a Tesla Robotaxi to bring down the wrath of regulators, if that is in fact what they're trying to do here.

State Senator Scott Wiener isn't having it, and said in a statement last week, "If Tesla actually deploys its AVs in San Francisco without permits, these vehicles should be seized and impounded. We have permitting & safety rules for a reason. Elon Musk isn’t exempt from those rules."

So, to recap, on July 9, Musk said the company was "waiting on regulatory approvals" for rolling out its autonomous taxis in the Bay Area, and that these would probably come within "a month or two." Then Business Insider obtained an internal Tesla memo telling employees about the Robotaxi rollout in the Bay Area, scheduled for last weekend.

And now, we have Tesla AI's announcement, not explicitly about Robotaxis, but about a curious new "ride-hail" service covering an area that includes southern Marin County, parts of the East Bay, and all of the San Francisco Peninsula as well as San Jose.

Experts have noted that the permitting requirements for AVs are fairly onerous, and Waymo is way ahead of the game in terms of millions of miles logged without accidents or serious incidents for its vehicles. Two years in, Waymo still doesn't even have a permit to operate on freeways in the Bay Area, and its cars can only operate in select cities. So even the "month or two" estimate seemed wildly unrealistic for Tesla to become a competitor in the space.

And we all know how things turned out for Cruise.

Previously: Musk Threatens to Bring Tesla's LiDAR-Free Robotaxis to Bay Area Within Months