Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous driving unit, has issued a voluntary recall for 258 autos because of points with its autonomous driving system that might trigger surprising exhausting breaking.
The recall follows a preliminary investigation from the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) final Could after the company obtained two experiences of incidents through which motorcyclists collided with the again of Zoox autos — Toyota Highlanders geared up with Zoox know-how. The preliminary investigation discovered that in each instances, the Zoox autos had been working with their autonomous programs engaged.
Zoox is recalling solely autos geared up with software program variations launched earlier than November 5, 2024. The corporate mentioned in a NHTSA report that it addressed the difficulty with a software program replace by November 7, 2024.
TechCrunch has reached out to be taught whether or not Zoox’s Toyota Highlanders had been the one autos affected, or if Zoox’s improve went out to its purpose-built robotaxis, as properly.
Zoox is at present testing a restricted variety of its customized robotaxis, constructed with out a steering wheel or pedals, in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Final June, Zoox shared plans to start out testing its know-how in Austin and Miami.
The recall comes after a couple of of years of heightened scrutiny from regulators following a security incident with Cruise in 2023, which has since been shuttered and absorbed into its guardian firm Normal Motors.
Final yr, Waymo issued a voluntary recall of 672 Jaguar I-Tempo robotaxis following a number of reported security incidents, together with when one collided with a phone pole.