CyberCabs are LIVE in Austin, and Federal Regulators Have Questions

Tesla's long-awaited Cybercab is officially carrying passengers in Austin.

The gold two-seater is different from the Model Ys Tesla has already been using for its Robotaxi service because it was designed from the beginning to drive itself: no steering wheel, no pedals, and no traditional side mirrors.

Tesla began offering Cybercab rides in limited areas of Austin on September 3, marking the first commercial deployment of its purpose-built robotaxi.

But within hours, federal regulators started asking questions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an Audit Query into Tesla's decision to self-certify the Cybercab as compliant with federal vehicle safety standards.

Many existing federal rules were written around vehicles with traditional human controls and equipment. Cybercab was designed without many of them. Tesla's position is that the vehicle still complies with all applicable federal standards. NHTSA now wants to see the technical data and reasoning Tesla used to reach that conclusion.

Amazon-owned Zoox faced a similar challenge with its purpose-built robotaxi, which also lacks traditional controls. But Zoox ultimately went through the federal exemption process. In July, NHTSA granted Zoox temporary permission to commercially deploy up to 2,500 robotaxis per year for two years, subject to additional federal oversight.

Tesla is taking a different path.

That makes Austin the live test case for how the federal government regulates vehicles that were never designed to have a human driver in the first place. NHTSA is already working to rewrite several federal standards for autonomous vehicles. Until those changes are finished, though, the existing rules still apply.

For now, Cybercab rides are continuing.

If Tesla's interpretation holds, it could create a much faster path for purpose-built autonomous vehicles to reach American roads. If regulators decide Cybercab needs exemptions similar to Zoox, Tesla could face new restrictions before it can scale the service nationally.

Either way, Austin is helping write the playbook the rest of the country may eventually follow.