Tesla asked Las Vegas for 5,000 robotaxi permits. Sin City gave it 10, capped the speed at 45mph, and banned airport trips

The Strip is one of Nevada’s most concentrated gambling corridors. Sin City casinos there brought in roughly $8.8 billion in gaming revenue in 2025—about $24 million a day—and raked in roughly 56% of the state’s $15.8 billion in total gaming revenue that year. It also saw 38.5 million visitors in 2025, directly supporting more than 250,000 jobs in the area.

So it wasn’t a surprise with Tesla Robotaxi filed an application with the Nevada Transportation Authority (NTA) in June and asked for permits for 5,000 autonomous vehicles to operate within the city. But it was a surprise when the NTA responded a month later, giving the robotaxi arm of Elon Musk’s brainchild a “maximum fleet of ten (10) fully autonomous vehicles.” The permit also confined those 10 robotaxis to an Authority-approved corridor along the Strip and barred speeds above 45 mph. Most importantly for the tourism industry, the permit prohibits passenger pickups within one-quarter mile of the airport “unless authorized by the airport operator and all required governmental approvals have been obtained.”

Every vehicle must be marked........

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