Overview

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration granted Zoox the first exemption under its Automated Vehicle Safety, Transparency and Evaluation Program for demonstration use of its purpose-built, steering-wheel-free robotaxis.
• The exemption coincides with the closure of an investigation into Zoox’s July 2022 self-certification of its robotaxis that NHTSA opened in March 2023.
• As a condition of the waiver, Zoox must remove or obscure all statements claiming compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards due to its lack of manual controls.
• The waiver paves the way for Zoox to launch a commercial robotaxi service in Las Vegas later this year, with additional rollouts planned for San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy hailed the move as a “win-win for safety and innovation,” noting it follows the Department of Transportation’s expansion of exemption opportunities for U.S.-built autonomous vehicles.