U.S. Self-Driving Rules May Be Relaxed, Boosting Tesla Stock

• On Monday, Tesla shares rose due to a report stating that the President-elect's transition team intends to prioritize the creation of a federal self-driving vehicle regulation framework through the U.S. Transport Department.
• In the lead-up to this month's elections, Trump's return to the White House was actively supported by Musk as a key player in the business community.
• Last week, Trump appointed Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head the newly established Department of Government Efficiency.

On Monday, Tesla shares rose due to a report stating that the President-elect's transition team intends to prioritize the creation of a federal self-driving vehicle regulation framework through the U.S. Transport Department.

The Bloomberg News report, citing unnamed sources, caused Tesla stock to rise 7.98% in U.S. premarket trading as of 6:11 a.m. ET.

The Trump team and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a Transportation Department unit responsible for overseeing self-driving technologies, have been requested by CNBC to verify a report.

The tech billionaire, Musk, played a significant role in promoting Trump's return to the White House in the run-up to this month's elections. Now, he stands to gain from the close relationship he has established with the former president, who served his first term from 2017 to 2021.

Trump appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to head the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to eliminate bureaucracy, reduce regulations, and minimize wasteful spending.

A federal framework for regulating self-driving vehicles would greatly benefit Tesla, which has been promising fully autonomous vehicles for several years but has yet to deliver a car that can be driven without human intervention.

Tesla's long-term goal is to manufacture a fleet of "robotaxis," self-driving vehicles that can transport individuals without human oversight.

Tesla's long-awaited robotaxi, the "Cybercab," was unveiled by Musk last month. This $30,000 two-seater vehicle has no steering wheels or pedals.

Google's Waymo venture has already surpassed Tesla in the race to develop a robotaxi, as it is one of the few companies that have successfully launched self-driving cars on public roads.

During the unveiling of Tesla's Cybercab and "Robovan" vehicles, Musk stated that he anticipates Tesla to have "unsupervised" Full Self-Driving technology available in Texas and California next year in the Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles.

Tesla's FSD, or Full Self-Driving, is a premium driver assistance system that is currently available in a "supervised" version for electric vehicles. However, FSD still requires a human driver to be at the wheel, ready to take control at any moment.

According to Bloomberg, Trump's transition team is reportedly searching for policy leaders to establish a federal regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles in the Transportation Department.

According to Bloomberg, Emil Michael, a former Uber executive, and Republican Representatives Sam Graves of Missouri and Garret Graves of Louisiana are included.