Catching up to Waymo won't be easy because it has partnered with Uber Technologies, which operates the world's largest ride-hailing network with 170 million monthly users. It could take Tesla years to achieve that level of scale, especially if it builds its own mobility network from scratch.

Tesla stock rose Thursday. Elon Musk and trade were driving shares higher. Shares of the electric-vehicle maker added 0.4%, closing at $358.43, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.