The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into Tesla's Cybercab on Friday, hours after the company began operating the first robotaxis on public roads in Austin, Texas. The federal safety regulator is scrutinizing approximately 1,000 Cybercab vehicles that lack steering wheels or brake pedals.
Federal vehicle safety regulations mandate manual controls in automobiles. The Department of Transportation has proposed removing these requirements for autonomous vehicles, but those rules remain pending. Tesla informed NHTSA it self-certified the Cybercab as compliant with all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency supports safe autonomous vehicle development. "Our approach of balancing innovation with safety oversight will allow the United States to maintain its global leadership in AV innovation," Morrison said.
The investigation will examine "the process and technical data" Tesla used to certify the Cybercab and assess whether the company's certification relied on claiming that certain federal safety standards do not apply to the vehicle.
The move mirrors NHTSA's handling of Zoox, an Amazon-owned robotaxi company. In 2022, Zoox self-certified its cube-shaped robotaxi, which also lacked traditional manual controls. NHTSA issued a special order for more information and launched a formal audit query in 2023, significantly slowing Zoox's path to commercial operations.
In 2025, the federal agency granted Zoox an exemption to demonstrate its technology but not to operate it commercially. Zoox filed for a temporary exemption from eight specific Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to charge for robotaxi services. The company received final approval in July 2026 and began commercial operations in Las Vegas, where it now charges for rides.
The regulatory timeline Tesla will face remains unclear. NHTSA's audit outcome will determine whether Tesla must pursue a similar approval pathway before fully commercializing its Cybercab fleet.
