Self-driving cars are inching closer to mainstream use, and a recent regulatory milestone marks a significant step forward for one of the sector’s key players. Autonomous vehicle developer Zoox has received a notable exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), officially certifying its vehicles for demonstration use.

Read: Zoox Robotaxis Could Eventually Become Part Of Amazon Prime

The decision represents a meaningful win for the Amazon-owned company and comes just as a federal investigation into its past regulatory compliance comes to a close.

In 2022, the NHTSA opened a probe into Zoox vehicles to see if they’d met federal safety requirements after being self-certified without having any traditional driving controls. Recently, Zoox applied for an exemption from a few NHTSA requirements, and it has now been approved.

A Shift in Policy for US-Based AV Companies

The exemption has been issued through the expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Program and forms an important part of the Transport Secretary Sean P. Duffy’s Innovation Agenda, which aims to promote US technology and safety. Previously, foreign autonomous vehicles had been eligible for exemptions, but not those manufactured in the United States.

Importantly, this could pave the way for other US-based companies to receive similar NHTSA exemptions. Secretary Duffy is particularly eager to grow America’s autonomous vehicle capabilities, and this could prove to be a pivotally important way to do so.

“This is a win-win for safety and innovation. Under the leadership of President Trump, U.S. companies like Zoox have a process to create and test their latest technologies. America – not China – can and will drive the future of self-driving cars forward,” Duffy said.

Next Steps for Zoox

Despite the exemption, Zoox will need to revise or remove previous claims suggesting its purpose-built vehicles already complied with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The updated certification allows testing under the exemption, but not without an adjustment in public messaging.

The NHTSA has been keeping a close eye on Zoox. In May 2024, it opened a probe into the company’s vehicles following two rear-end collisions and a braking-related recall. In May, Zoox also had to recall 270 vehicles shortly after a robotaxi was involved in a crash in Las Vegas.

Tesla and Elon Musk had hoped that the rollout of a long-awaited Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, would mark a major step forward for the company, bringing fully autonomous driving technology to the public. Instead, the Robotaxi has landed Tesla in hot water. Both Musk and the company are now named in a lawsuit alleging they concealed the risks of self-driving systems and inflated the automaker’s valuation.

Read: This City Could Be Tesla’s Toughest Robotaxi Challenge Yet

The proposed class action, filed by a group of shareholders, claims that Tesla’s Robotaxi vehicles in Austin have been seen behaving erratically, speeding, hopping curbs, swerving into the wrong lane, braking unpredictably, and even letting passengers off in the middle of busy roads, according to The Economic Times.

Shareholders Say the Tech Isn’t Ready

According to the shareholders, Musk and Tesla have consistently overstated the effectiveness and prospects of the automaker’s autonomous driving technologies, boosting its stock price. The lawsuit also takes issue with Musk’s April 22 statement that Tesla was “laser-focused on bringing Robotaxi to Austin in June,” and that the service would deliver “scalable and safe deployment across diverse geographies and use cases.”

Where Musk Goes, Controversy Follows

The shareholders are accusing Tesla and Musk of securities fraud. Their filing argues that the Robotaxi program poses a “significant risk” to public safety and may violate traffic laws, opening the company up to tighter regulatory scrutiny. They also note that Tesla’s stock dipped around 6 percent following public reports of incidents involving the Robotaxi fleet.

Last week, Tesla expanded its Robotaxi service to a geofenced area of the San Francisco Bay Area. However, as Tesla does not have regulatory approval to operate completely autonomous vehicles in California, all vehicles in the local Robotaxi fleet have a human behind the wheel. So, in reality, it’s not a Robotaxi service at all, but rather a simple ride-hailing service.

Despite these hurdles, Musk remains characteristically confident. On Tesla’s earnings call in late July, he predicted that “half of the population of the US will be covered by Tesla’s Robotaxi by the end of the year,” suggesting that regulatory concerns and technical setbacks aren’t slowing down the company’s broader ambitions.

Tesla’s Robotaxi service may have generated plenty of headlines since launching in a geofenced area of Austin recently, but soon, Waymo will be adding a second Texas city to its program. Already providing more than 250,000 paid trips in Austin and other major US cities every week, Waymo will launch in Dallas next year, showing Tesla a thing or two about how to run a successful robotaxi service.

Rather than going it alone, Waymo is leveraging the operational scale and expertise of Avis to help ensure smooth day-to-day management as it enters a new market. The rental giant will help to manage its fleet operations, as well as infrastructure, vehicle maintenance, and general depot operations.

Read: Tech Founder Predicts The End Of Driving For Your Kids And Maybe You Too

“We look forward to bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the people of Dallas next year, offering a new era of safe and seamless transportation,” Waymo co-chief executive Tekedra Mawakana said. “Working together with our fleet partner Avis, Waymo will offer more riders a stress-free way to get around.”

The self-driving car division of Alphabet didn’t disclose how much of Dallas will be covered by its robotaxi service. Nevertheless, Waymo says it is confident it can contribute to Dallas’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths and reducing severe injury crashes by 50 percent by 2030.

“We are excited that fully autonomous ride-hailing services are scheduled to begin in Dallas next year,” Dallas city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert added. “The Waymo and Avis partnership will offer an innovative, technology-based transportation option for our residents and visitors.  We look forward to the launch of this new service.”

Dallas won’t be the end of Waymo’s expansion. The company is reportedly considering launching in Houston and San Antonio in the future. It could also expand into San Diego, Boston, and New York. According to ABC News, Waymo is also eyeing Tokyo as the first market outside of the US for its robotaxis.

In June, Tesla introduced its long-awaited Robotaxi service to a geo-fenced area of Austin, Texas. It’s now planning to expand this service to the San Francisco Bay Area, but has yet to receive the required go-ahead from local authorities to do so. In the meantime, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has made a bold proclamation about the robotaxi service and its potential for rapid growth.

Read: Tesla’s Robotaxis Aren’t The Same As The Model Y You Can Buy

While speaking on Tesla’s quarterly earnings call, Musk declared that “half of the population of the US will be covered by Tesla’s Robotaxi by the end of the year.” Given that we’re already fast approaching the end of July, and the system is only operating in a section of a single US city, this seems like yet another grandiose statement from the world’s richest man that will not bear fruit.

Safety Measures Still in Place

Currently, all Robotaxis operating in Austin are believed to feature a hidden kill switch that can instantly disable the Full Self-Driving system. All vehicles currently have a Tesla employee sitting in the passenger seat with their finger constantly resting on the door opening button, prompting suggestions that this button has been repurposed to act as a quick override mechanism.

Tesla’s Robotaxis have already been seen struggling with real-world driving conditions in Texas. Several videos have captured the vehicles making noticeable blunders on the road, raising questions about how quickly the system can realistically scale to other parts of the country within the next five months.

Ambitious Expansion Plans

This isn’t the only wild statement Musk recently made about the company’s self-driving systems, notes The Verge. Speaking on the same earnings call, Musk predicted that by the end of 2025, Tesla customers will be able to update their vehicles so they can use FSD without supervision. In addition to eyeing an expansion into California, Musk also named Florida, Nevada, and Arizona as other states where Tesla wants to introduce its Robotaxi service.

While Tesla can continue to test and improve its driver-assistance systems, it can do little to speed up the state regulatory approvals necessary for expanding the service across the United States. So, unless you live near a massive urban center, don’t expect to be able to order a self-driving Tesla taxi anytime soon.

Launching a robotaxi service in a major city has long been a benchmark for autonomous driving technology. Last month, Tesla took a step toward that goal by quietly rolling out a small-scale robotaxi program in Austin, Texas.

Although the service remains limited in scope and footage has shown autonomous Model Ys making some questionable moves, Elon Musk already has his sights set on expanding. His next target? The San Francisco Bay Area.

Read: Tesla’s Robotaxi Was Caught Making A Turn It Immediately Regretted

Musk made the announcement on X when asked about a potential expansion into San Francisco. According to the him, Tesla is “waiting on regulatory approvals,” but said the service will “probably [launch] in a month or two.”

In all likelihood, Tesla will adopt a similarly cautious approach in San Francisco as it did in Austin. Currently, the Austin pilot operates within a tightly geofenced area and every vehicle includes a human safety supervisor in the passenger seat. In a recent post on X, Musk said the service’s footprint in Austin will grow this weekend, though he didn’t say how much additional ground it will cover.

San Francisco is likely to prove a more challenging area for Tesla’s self-driving systems. The city is significantly more densely populated and has more challenging roads, largely due to its extreme topography and steep streets.

Stricter Regulations

Unlike Texas, where autonomous services face relatively few restrictions, California enforces tighter oversight. To operate in San Francisco, Tesla will need to secure approvals from both the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, according to Reuters.

And with Waymo already running its own robotaxi service in the city for quite some time, Tesla will not only need to navigate regulation but also public perception and direct competition. Earning the trust of San Francisco riders may prove just as crucial as earning the trust of regulators.

Tesla has officially entered the deep waters of robotaxi service but is doing so in its own, distinctive way. The service is very limited as of this writing; it comes with a silent Tesla employee in every front passenger seat and consists of Model Ys that were secretly modified. It’s not exactly what you might think at first, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Elon Musk has several times mentioned that the Model Ys in Robotaxi service are the same ones that everyday folks can buy. According to a new report, that’s not exactly true, and before anyone asks, no, it doesn’t appear that the Robotaxis have a brake built into the front passenger handle. What they do have is another set of safety measures, though.

More: Tesla’s Robotaxi Was Caught Making A Turn It Immediately Regretted

According to Business Insider, Tesla has a program called Halo that modifies these cars. Every autonomous car gets self-cleaning cameras and additional protection for the cameras to keep them from getting damaged. In addition, they have not one but two telecommunications units built into the car, each providing detailed GPS data and allows Tesla’s remote operators to control the car if needed. That said, it’s worth noting that these modifications aren’t all that odd.

Tesla’s system relies so heavily on camera clarity that keeping lenses safe, clean, and in perfect working order is paramount. In addition, the standard Model Y already comes with a telecommunications unit, so in this case, Tesla is simply doubling up, likely to increase redundancy should one become non-operational.

That's a wrap! In the last 36 hours, I've taken a total of 20 @Tesla Robotaxi rides and traveled 92 miles. No interventions, no critical safety issues. All my rides were smooth and comfortable.

Thank you, Tesla, for letting me be a part of this experience—and congrats to the… pic.twitter.com/VNpSUVMuz6

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 24, 2025

It’ll be interesting to see how the court of public opinion rules out on this one. Will it praise Musk for adding safety measures to the robotaxi program, or will it chastise him for not being 100 percent accurate when he said these cars were identical to the ones that the general public can buy?

Optics aside, does it really matter? What does is that people who take a ride in a Tesla Robotaxi can breathe a little easier knowing that the cars come with extra safety equipment built into them. And we wouldn’t be surprised if, at some point in the not-so-distant future, those features make it into Model Ys that we can actually purchase.

👀What an interesting interaction. A Waymo ended up in the wrong lane, and a Tesla Robotaxi handled it like a pro.

No headlines about this will likely be made by mainstream media, of course.pic.twitter.com/I1Qw2GsIFj

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 26, 2025

While some Democratic lawmakers urged Tesla to delay the rollout of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, the program officially kicked off on Sunday. It’s believed that around 12 Tesla Model Y robotaxis have hit the city streets and are operating in a small, geofenced area. And while the vehicles are indeed driving themselves, the company is keeping a light foot on the accelerator when it comes to public exposure.

Read: Tesla’s Robotaxi Launch Comes With Strict Rules And A ‘Safety Monitor’

Videos from early users, mostly influencers, reveal that each Robotaxi comes with a “safety driver” seated in the passenger seat. Yes, the passenger seat. It’s not entirely clear why Tesla made that choice, except maybe to reinforce the optics of a driverless experience.

After all, someone behind the wheel would be a dead giveaway that the system still needs supervision. Putting them in the passenger seat keeps up appearance, technically driverless, but not totally.

Among the first people to use the service were vetted customers who received early-access invitations from Tesla. As reported by TechCrunch, many of these are strong supporters of the Tesla brand. Evidently, the electric car manufacturer doesn’t yet want the general public to experience the service, obviously aware that mistakes or hiccups with the service could instantly draw a lot of criticism.

A $4.20 Ride with a Side of Caution

Early rides are priced at a very on-brand $4.20 flat rate, and the service runs from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, unless bad weather rolls in. In that case, the robotaxis are grounded. Probably a wise move considering even humans struggle with Texas thunderstorms.

The service appears to operate in a very similar way to Waymo’s. Users need to download a specific Robotaxi app and can then order a ride. Once inside, the vehicle’s rear passenger display will display navigation details and the expected arrival time. Additionally, passengers can control the audio through the rear screen.  

For the most part, the system appears to perform quite well, navigating certain roads in South Austin with relative ease. However, one video shared to YouTube by a TechCrunch reporter shows a Model Y Robotaxi unnecessarily braking and coming to a stop twice, after passing several parked police cars at a nearby crime scene.

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