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United States – Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, has initiated a voluntary software recall of its robotaxi fleet after federal regulators raised concerns about the vehicles’ behavior in smoke-heavy conditions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identified a critical flaw in the vehicles’ perception stack, finding that dense particulate matter, such as wildfire smoke, could confuse the sensor systems and lead to erratic braking, hesitation, and navigation stalls. The intervention comes as the United States faces smoke from Canadian and regional wildfires that has created hazardous air quality and low-visibility driving conditions across multiple states. United States – In response to the safety concerns, Zoox is deploying an over-the-air software update designed to modify how its LIDAR and camera arrays interpret low-visibility, high-particulate environments so the vehicles can better distinguish smoke from solid obstacles. The company describes the action as a voluntary software recall focused on improving reliability rather than correcting a crash-causing defect, and it says the fleet has not been involved in any high-speed collisions linked to smoke interference. The case reflects the NHTSA’s broader push to tighten oversight of autonomous vehicle operations and require stronger emergency-response performance from self-driving systems.

By Sarah Whitman | JQJO News