Amazon's Zoox has secured a significant regulatory milestone, receiving an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that permits its driverless robotaxis on public roads for demonstration purposes. This exemption, announced on August 7, 2025, is the first of its kind for an American-manufactured vehicle under NHTSA's recently enhanced Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP). The program's expansion in April 2025 now includes domestically produced vehicles, addressing a previous disadvantage for U.S. innovators.
The approval also led to the closure of NHTSA's investigation into Zoox's self-certification practices, which began in 2022. As a condition of the exemption, Zoox must remove or cover any claims that its purpose-built vehicles comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Zoox is preparing for a commercial robotaxi service launch in Las Vegas, a city where it has been conducting testing since 2019. The company has established a 220,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, California, with the capacity to produce 10,000 robotaxis annually. This regulatory advancement aligns with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy's Innovation Agenda, which aims to foster domestic technological advancement and safety in the autonomous vehicle sector.
Zoox vehicles are designed without traditional controls like steering wheels or pedals, relying instead on sensors such as lidar, radar, and thermal cameras for navigation. They are bidirectional, capable of speeds up to 75 mph, and feature four-wheel steering. This exemption is seen as a crucial step for the future of autonomous vehicle development in the U.S., potentially paving the way for other domestic companies with non-traditional autonomous vehicle designs.