Exclusive-Amazon's Zoox wins first US approval for paid robotaxis without human controls

Amazon's Zoox unit won U.S. approval on Wednesday for limited commercial deployment of its novel steering-wheel-free robotaxis, a first for the autonomous ride industry, the U.S. auto safety agency said Thursday. The exemption from ‌National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rules requiring human controls, first reported by Reuters, marks a milestone for companies developing robotaxis from ‌the ground up, rather than modifying conventional cars under safety regulations written long before self-driving technology emerged. Along with Zoox, whose electric carriage-style vehicle has two rows of inward-facing seats and ​a top speed of 75 miles per hour, others such as Tesla and Alphabet's...