Recent data from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles reveals a significant disparity in autonomous vehicle deployment between Tesla and Waymo. Nearly a year after Tesla initiated its robotaxi pilot program in the state, the company operates only 42 autonomous vehicles. In contrast, Waymo, the self-driving subsidiary of Alphabet, has deployed 577 vehicles across Texas. These figures were made public through a new state authorization process for autonomous-vehicle operators that became effective on Thursday, requiring companies to disclose fleet sizes. Tesla began its Texas pilot last June, initially restricting access to a limited group of invited users in Austin. Although the service is designed for fully self-driving operations, the company initially required employees to sit in the front passenger seat as a safety precaution. By January, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's vice president of AI software, indicated that the company had begun introducing unsupervised vehicles into the Austin fleet. He noted that these autonomous units would be mixed with those requiring safety monitors, with the ratio of unsupervised vehicles expected to increase over time. Beyond Austin, Tesla states that its service is available in select areas of Dallas and Houston. Despite these efforts, Tesla's footprint remains dwarfed by competitors. Aside from Waymo, other operators such as Avride and Nuro have 317 and 47 vehicles respectively, both exceeding Tesla's current total. Waymo launched its own driverless service in Austin in March 2025 through a partnership with Uber. The company's Texas operations extend to Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. However, Waymo temporarily suspended rides in these cities recently due to safety concerns regarding its vehicles' performance during road flooding. The new disclosure requirements mark a pivotal moment for the autonomous vehicle industry in Texas, offering the first comprehensive look at the actual scale of operations for major players. While Tesla continues to expand its pilot program and work toward removing human supervisors, the data underscores the challenges the company faces in scaling its fleet relative to established competitors like Waymo. As the state implements stricter oversight and transparency measures, the competition for dominance in the autonomous mobility sector is likely to intensify, with operational safety and reliability remaining central to consumer acceptance and regulatory approval.