Tesla Inc. (TSLA) has reportedly jumped through an important regulatory hoop in Nevada, bringing the company closer to launching its ambitious Robotaxi service in the Silver State.

Clearing the First Hurdle

According to a Friday report from Business Insider, the automaker has completed Nevada's self-certification process for its Robotaxis. That's the green light Tesla needs to deploy autonomous vehicles on Nevada roads, at least from a technical standpoint.

But here's the catch: self-certification isn't the same as commercial approval. Tesla still needs to get the Nevada Transportation Authority's blessing before it can actually start charging passengers for rides. And according to the report, the company hasn't even submitted that application yet. So we're talking about progress, but not quite launch-ready status.

Neither Tesla nor the Nevada DMV responded to requests for comment on the development.

Musk's Ambitious Timeline Meets Reality

This news comes after CEO Elon Musk laid out some pretty aggressive expansion plans during Tesla's third-quarter earnings call last month. He said the company would bring Robotaxis to Nevada, Arizona, and Florida before 2026 arrives.

Interestingly though, Musk also pulled back on an earlier goal. Instead of serving more than half the U.S. population with autonomous cabs by year-end, Tesla is now targeting a more modest rollout to 8-10 major cities nationwide. That's still ambitious, but it's a noticeable recalibration of expectations.

Musk has also been talking up Tesla's potential "Nvidia Corp (NVDA) moment"—the inflection point where Unsupervised Full Self-Driving operations reach meaningful scale. Of course, getting there requires actually achieving unsupervised autonomy, which remains the big question mark hanging over the entire project.

FSD Progress and Regulatory Headwinds

Speaking of Full Self-Driving, the technology continues to generate mixed reactions. On one hand, Tesla's FSD V14 has earned genuine praise from observers like Ross Gerber, who called the updates a "big step up" from previous versions. Gary Black, managing director of Future Fund LLC, also highlighted the improvements in v14.

Musk himself has suggested that FSD v14.3—the next update in the pipeline—could be the "last big piece of the puzzle" for achieving true unsupervised autonomy. That would be a massive milestone if it happens.

On the other hand, FSD remains under scrutiny from safety regulators. NHTSA has launched an investigation into the technology following reports of traffic violations and accidents, which is exactly the kind of regulatory attention Tesla doesn't need as it tries to expand Robotaxi operations.

Price Action: TSLA closed down 1.05% at $391.01 on Friday but climbed 0.70% to $393.83 in after-hours trading, according to market data.