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Zoox issues its fourth software recall after a robotaxi stalled in wildfire smoke

Zoox issues its fourth software recall after a robotaxi stalled in wildfire smoke

Zoox pushed a software update to all 105 of its robotaxis to detect heavy smoke, after an empty vehicle braked hard near an uncordoned fire scene and a teleoperator had to steer it away — its fourth recall since March 2025. It lands a week after NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison told AV makers that emergency scenes 'are not rare or extreme edge cases,' recasting first-responder interference as a functional defect regulators now weigh against the driverless-launch exemptions Zoox needs.

Source: techcrunch.com ↗

Post on XEmail

Emergency scenes are not rare or extreme 'edge cases.' As such, NHTSA is today issuing a call to action for AV developers and operators to immediately focus their resources on fixing this issue.

NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison

Why this matters

  • → Regulators now treat first-responder interference as a functional defect, not an edge case.
  • → Fourth recall in 16 months signals systematic challenges with emergency-scene detection.
  • → Zoox's commercial launch depends on NHTSA exemptions; safety gaps could block approval.
Regulators flip the script on robotaxis