Zoox plans to put its robotaxis on the Uber app in Vegas this year

Amazon-owned Zoox plans to make its robotaxis available for the Uber app in Las Vegas later this year, the two companies announced Wednesday.

Before that can happen, however, Zoox still needs federal approval to commercially release its robotaxis, which has no steering wheel or pedals. That requires an exemption from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). On Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began public comment on Zoox’s request for that exemption. (Zoox currently has an exemption that allows the custom-built robotaxis to serve as a demonstration, not for sale.)

If and when Zoox gets approval, the company plans to launch its commercial robotaxi service first, and before making the cars available to Uber in Las Vegas, he told TechCrunch. Zoox currently offers free rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco. It is also mapping out and building a presence in eight other US cities, including Dallas and Phoenix, which were announced earlier this week.

Zoox and Uber have described this as a “multi-year strategic partnership,” which includes plans to launch in Los Angeles in 2027.

This is Zoox’s first third-party partnership with a platform like Uber. But it certainly isn’t Uber’s first partnership with a private car company. Uber has partnerships with more than 25 private car companies around the world. Its most notable deal is with Waymo, which makes its robotaxis available at Uber locations in Austin and Atlanta. Uber has also partnered with China’s Baidu and announced it will begin testing self-driving cars in London this year. The giant has AV partnerships with Volkswagen, May Mobility, and Pony AI, too.

Uber is also developing new offerings for these robotaxi partners. In January, TechCrunch revealed that the company started an “AV Labs” division dedicated to collecting real-world driving data to power autonomous systems for partners. Last month, Uber announced that it had created a division called Uber Autonomous Solutions that would provide operational services, software, and support.

Zoox is seeking exemptions from eight FMVSS, including standards that require the vehicle to have windshield defroster systems and windshield wipers. NHTSA will take public comments for 30 days, but it’s unclear when the safety agency will make a decision.

At an independent auto safety hearing held Tuesday, NHTSA chief Jonathan Morrison sounded eager to move forward with a clear plan to regulate self-driving cars.

“We think it’s past time to move past the hand-waving and hype, and finally do the necessary, hard policy work to provide proper and robust oversight to the sector while removing unnecessary and unintended barriers to innovation that currently exist,” he said. “This won’t be easy, but I firmly believe we can do it, and we at NHTSA are moving with great urgency to do it.”