The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into how Tesla self-certified its Cybercab robotaxi, just hours after the vehicle began commercial operation on the streets of Austin, Texas. The probe centres on the Cybercab's lack of conventional manual controls, such as a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator or mirrors, and whether Tesla was right to determine that certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) simply do not apply to the vehicle. The case matters because it tests how regulators handle autonomous vehicles built from the outset with no provision for human operation, at a moment when federal rules for such vehicles are still being updated.

Tesla had told the NHTSA it certified the Cybercab as compliant with all applicable FMVSS, but the agency has now opened a formal Audit Query to examine the process and technical data behind that self-certification. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency supports safe development of automated vehicles but must ensure the law is followed. There is some precedent for controls-free autonomous vehicles, since Amazon's Zoox was granted a two-year exemption in July 2026 capping deployments at 2,500 vehicles annually, but the NHTSA wants to understand independently how Tesla arrived at its own certification.