Tesla's Driverless Cybercab Launch Triggers US Safety Regulator Investigation

Tesla launched its Cybercab self-driving robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on September 3, and within hours the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an audit of roughly 1,000 of the vehicles to examine how the company determined they comply with federal vehicle safety regulations. The two-seat, gold-colored electric vehicle has no steering wheel, brake pedals or traditional side mirrors, and is designed to operate without a human driver.

US regulators limit commercial deployment of vehicles that do not meet decades-old federal safety standards written for human-driven cars requiring manual controls. Unlike most countries, US law lets automakers self-certify that new vehicles meet federal standards before putting them on public roads, rather than requiring regulatory approval in advance. Tesla's approach mirrors a similar standoff faced by robotaxi rival Zoox, which self-certified its own driverless vehicle in 2022 only to face a roughly two-year regulatory dispute with NHTSA before eventually agreeing to seek a formal exemption.