Tesla deployed a small group of self-driving taxis picking up paying passengers on Sunday in Austin, Texas, with CEO Elon Musk announcing the "robotaxi launch" and social-media influencers posting videos of their first rides.

The company debuted its autonomous ride-hailing service Sunday. The limited program is invite-only and uses around 20 cars—signs that Tesla has a long way to go to catch up to its robotaxi rivals.

Texas enacts legislation requiring a permit to operate self-driving vehicles just before Tesla's planned launch of a robotaxi trial.