Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary Zoox just cleared the regulatory hurdle that has kept purpose-built robotaxis parked on the sidelines for years. What NHTSA actually approvedNHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said Zoox’s systems exceeded the performance standards of vehicles that comply with traditional safety requirements. Why this matters beyond autonomous vehiclesThe NHTSA exemption sends a signal that US regulators are willing to accommodate vehicles that break fundamentally from traditional automotive design. Zoox’s exemption could serve as a template for those rules. Any high-profile safety incident during this early phase could set back not just Zoox but the entire autonomous vehicle industry.