> Is the consumer going to pick a more expensive, ugly, non integrated vehicle for their trip?

The consumer does not care about which car picks them up or what hardware integration it has. The consumer cares about which car is available in their service area, how quickly it will arrive, how much it will cost, how quickly it can get to their destination, and that it will do so safely.

> Well Tesla just launched their robotaxi 6 months ago whereas Waymo has been going for a decade? Just looking at a point in time is a bit silly, look at the change over time.

I am only refuting the claim that Tesla has reached parity with Waymo in Austin. They are nowhere near.

Because Tesla has a history of over-promising and under-delivering, I will want to see Tesla scale up the robotaxi business to the level of Waymo (which is currently far ahead) before I proclaim them the winner.

You are not really backing your claims with facts or numbers, just opinion and future predictions which may or may not come true.

Agree, competition is healthy.