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.

The vehicles will have safety monitors and may not operate in bad weather, making them more restricted than the fully autonomous vehicles promised by Elon Musk.