One vehicle briefly veered into oncoming traffic.

Another flashed its blinker far too early, signaling a left turn, only to bail and go straight.

And of course, passengers are griping about awkward pick-ups and drop-off locations – like being dropped a block away from their pinned destination, or being asked to cross traffic to reach their ride.

Naturally, social media is abuzz with criticism after Tesla’s self-driving robotaxis officially hit the streets of Austin this week.

Critics are calling Tesla robotaxis dangerous. Sloppy. And a PR stunt.

But honestly? That noise is predictable.

If you’ve read any of my previous writings, you know I’m no Tesla cheerleader.

I’ve written on at least 10 separate occasions that I wouldn’t touch TSLA stock with a ten-foot pole.

I still wouldn’t, for reasons that have nothing to do with robotaxis: the stock is overvalued, the core car business is in decline, and AV/robotics competition is only heating up.

But here’s the twist: despite my bearishness on the stock, I’m not going to pile on and bash the technology.

Because this? This is what progress looks like.

I’ve personally ridden in more than a dozen Waymo robotaxis.

I’ve also tested Zoox (Amazon’s autonomous vehicle), a self-driving BMW, and a few other vehicles not even available to the public yet.

I’ve seen the cutting edge of this technology – and I’ve seen its limits.

None of these rides have ever been perfect.

In a Waymo, I was once dropped off in the middle of a busy roundabout – with no way to tell the car to keep going or stop somewhere safer.

I’ve ridden in an autonomous BMW that barreled over potholes during a rainstorm at full speed, with no sign of slowing down.

And once, in a Zoox, the vehicle came to a complete stop mid-trip due to a door sensor issue – a good safety feature, but also a reminder that software has its limitations.

And you know what? That’s okay.

No technology rollout is ever flawless.

That was true for computers. For smartphones. The internet. For electric vehicles. For every major consumer shift in the last 50 years.

Autonomy will be no different.

What matters is that robotaxis are here. In public. On the roads. Not just in closed test environments or edited promo videos.

Real cars, real passengers, real data.

Critics who expect perfection on Day One misunderstand how innovation works.

Every odd lane change, every missed turn, every delayed decision – that’s all part of the machine learning process.

The system logs it, learns from it, and gets better.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hold companies accountable for safety. We should.

Regulation, transparency, and responsible rollouts are essential.

But expecting perfection out of the gate isn’t just unrealistic – it’s a misunderstanding of how innovation unfolds.

Tesla robotaxis are on the road and they’re safely transporting passengers. Period.

That alone puts Tesla ahead of 99% of “autonomous” players still stuck in R&D labs or demo reels.

Call it messy, call it early – but this is real-world progress.

And that’s more than you can say about most of the competition.

So no, I’m still not buying Tesla’s stock.

But I’m not going to ignore the innovation, either.