Overview
- A Zoox robotaxi entered an active, uncordoned fire scene on June 20 after heavy smoke obscured sensors, braking and stopping before a remote teleoperator reversed it out and firefighters placed cones; no injuries were reported.
- Zoox notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on June 25, conducted an internal probe from June 22 to July 8, and concluded the June 20 event was the only incident of this kind.
- The company issued a voluntary software recall covering 105 vehicles running software installed between April 23 and July 15, and rolled an over‑the‑air update on July 15 that it says adds the ability to detect and respond to heavy smoke including from electric vehicle fires.
- Zoox also put interim operational measures in place while the update was deployed, and described the recall as a software remedy rather than a hardware fix.
- The episode strengthens NHTSA’s scrutiny of robotaxi performance around emergency scenes and could affect the timing of Zoox’s pending approvals to convert its Las Vegas free rides into paid service.