NHTSA opened an investigation into Tesla's self-certification of the Cybercab robotaxi, just hours after the vehicle began commercial service in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. The probe, filed as Audit Query AQ26002, targets the Cybercab's lack of conventional controls: no steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator or mirrors.

US automakers must certify that new vehicles meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) before market entry, subject to NHTSA oversight. Tesla told the agency it had certified the Cybercab as compliant with all applicable FMVSS. NHTSA said it will examine the process and technical data behind that certification, particularly which safety standards Tesla judged not to apply to a vehicle with no manual controls.

The agency is separately working to update brake-pedal and other FMVSS requirements for vehicles designed never to be driven by a human, but those updates were not yet finalized when Tesla began the Cybercab rollout. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency supports safe development of automated vehicles but must ensure "all of our laws are followed."

Tesla is not alone in fielding driverless-only vehicles. Amazon's Zoox received a two-year exemption from NHTSA in late July 2026, capped at 2,500 exempted vehicles per 12-month period. That precedent leaves open whether Tesla will need a similar carve-out or can rely on its own self-certification claim.