Next month, Tesla is planning to hold its big Robotaxi event at Warner Bros. Discovery’s movie studio in Burbank, California, according to a new report from Bloomberg.The sprawling studio — which offers tours to visitors — contains large sound stages and sets, including some that resemble a suburban landscape featuring several houses and a small downtown area. It’s also home to a number of famous productions, like “Batman.”Tesla’s highly anticipated event was previously delayed from August 8 to October, due to some design changes the CEO requested. Musk also said in a post on X that the delay gave them time to “show off a few other things.”Bloomberg reports that the target date is October 10th. Tesla and Warner Bros did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.This wouldn’t be the first time Musk has selected a Hollywood studio to host an event. In 2016, Musk demonstrated Tesla’s solar roof product on Universal Studios’s suburban “Desperate Housewives” set.But it marks a change from recent Tesla events, which have been held at Tesla facilities. For example, Tesla’s Cybertruck unveiling in 2019 was held at Tesla’s Design Studio in Hawthorne, California. Its delivery event then took place at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas.Tesla’s AI Day in 2022, which focused on Tesla advancements in AI and self-driving technology, took place at Tesla’s headquarters at in Palo Alto, California. The EV giant’s headquarters have since moved to Texas, where Musk has said SpaceX and X, formerly Twitter, will also move.Tesla’s unveiling events often feature eye-catching demonstrations, and there’s some early indications that the company may be preparing to show off its Robotaxi in action.A hacker known for digging into Tesla’s software update code recently said he uncovered information that suggested Tesla was collecting more data as part of a campaign called “WB Studio” in the area of the unveiling ahead of the event.
So I guess recent Bloomberg news piece explains why Tesla started extensive data collection in “WB Studio” area 4 or so days ago.This is in addition to other areas like Tesla Diner, various SF and Bay Area pieces and so on. pic.twitter.com/NO4Bprugak— green (@greentheonly) September 1, 2024
While Tesla hasn’t confirmed the location of its Robotaxi event yet, it makes sense to hold the big reveal on private property that looks similar to public streets. Tesla could be looking for a controlled environment to minimize interactions with traffic and unexpected situations on the road.Tesla also likely needs an area to show off its vision for the autonomous driving abilities of its Robotaix without breaking any laws or running afoul of regulators by demoing it on public roads.A movie set is a good place to do that.
