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

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

But before that happens, Zoox still needs approval from the federal government to commercially develop its robotaxis, which has no steering wheel or pedals. This requires exemptions from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). On Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began to make public comments regarding Zoox’s application for these exemptions. (Zoox currently has an exemption that allows custom robotaxis to be used as a demo and not commercially.)

If and when Zoox gets approval, the company plans to launch its own commercial robotaxi service first before making the vehicles available to Uber in Las Vegas, he told TechCrunch. Zoox is currently offering 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 described it 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’s certainly not Uber’s first collaboration with an autonomous vehicle company. Uber has partnerships with more than 25 different autonomous vehicle companies around the world. Its most notable deal is with Waymo, which is making robotaxis available on the Uber platform in Austin and Atlanta. Uber has also partnered with China’s Baidu and announced that it will begin testing these self-driving cars in London this year. The ride-hail giant also has AV partnerships with Volkswagen, May Mobility and Pony AI.

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

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

At a hearing on autonomous vehicle safety on Tuesday, NHTSA chief Jonathan Morrison appeared willing to move toward a clearer regulatory system for self-driving cars.

“We think it’s past time to get past the claptrap and hype and finally do the necessary, hard policy work to provide appropriate and robust oversight in this area, removing the unnecessary and unintended barriers to innovation that exist today,” he said. “This won’t be easy, but I strongly believe it’s up to us, and we at NHTSA are moving with a great sense of urgency to get it done.”