Tesla in talks with city of Austin over self-driving technology, Bloomberg News reports

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(Reuters) -Tesla is in early talks with the authorities in the city of Austin, Texas, about its autonomous vehicle technology, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

A Tesla employee has been in touch with the city’s autonomous vehicle task force since at least May to establish safety expectations for the vehicles, the report said, citing emails acquired by public records requests.

Tesla had revealed a prototype of the eagerly anticipated Cybercab, a driverless and pedal-less vehicle, at its Hollywood robotaxi event in October, with CEO Elon Musk later announcing plans to introduce an “unsupervised version” of its driver-assistance technology in California and Texas next year.

For several years, the electric vehicle maker has offered a package known as Full Self-Driving, or FSD, which, despite its name, is not entirely autonomous and necessitates continuous driver supervision.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Shares of the company were up about 3% in premarket trading on Thursday.

The EV maker’s shares have rallied since Donald Trump was re-elected as U.S. president as investors expect Musk’s influence over the administration to help the company break through regulatory roadblocks for the technology.

Industry experts have said Tesla would face fewer challenges in less-regulated states such as Texas, where there are almost no restrictions and the regulation of driverless vehicles by cities is explicitly prohibited.

During an earnings call in October, Musk revealed that Tesla is currently pilot-testing a ride-hailing technology in the Bay Area with its employees, utilizing an in-house app and vehicles equipped with safety drivers.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Shilpi Majumdar)