Zoox Halts Atlanta Robotaxi Test Fleet After Workers Report Toxic Gas Exposure

Safety Drivers Fall Ill, Prompting OSHA Inquiry and Fleet Grounding

Zoox has grounded its autonomous vehicle test fleet in Atlanta after safety drivers were potentially exposed to carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, or hydrogen sulfide gas inside its vehicles last month, TechCrunch has learned. The repeated incidents led one worker to file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which opened an inquiry and instructed Zoox to investigate the exposures.

As many as 40 workers may have been exposed to the gases in the vehicles, according to an OSHA letter to Zoox reviewed by TechCrunch, though the Amazon-owned company disputes that figure, saying the number is lower.

Workers Sent Back on the Road After Falling Ill

Zoox put at least one group of workers back on the road in a different car after one vomited and the rest reported exposure symptoms, a contractor told TechCrunch. That second car may also have contained potentially toxic gases, he said, because the workers experienced another bout of exposure symptoms later that day.

"They made us go right back in the field after we said we were throwing up," Jay Davis, one of the contractors who got sick in mid-August, told TechCrunch in an interview. "I emailed HR, told her what's going on, and I told her I feel like it's messed up that y'all made us go [back out]."

Timeline of Incidents and Facility Shutdown

Workers reported exposure symptoms and strange smells through much of last month until August 22, when someone called 911 for a sick worker. The facility in northwest Atlanta has operated at limited capacity since then, with the test vehicles quarantined while Zoox investigated the exposures, according to two employees. Zoox's purpose-built robotaxis, which are all electric, are not affected.

TechCrunch spoke to Davis, who filed the OSHA complaint, along with one current and two former employees for this story. The other three workers were granted anonymity to discuss private company matters and because they fear retaliation.

Rapid Expansion Raises Safety Concerns

The illnesses come as Zoox branches into new cities and expands its existing operations in places like Las Vegas and San Francisco, in a bid to catch market leader Waymo. This rapid growth has put some safety monitors at risk. As TechCrunch previously reported, contractors have sustained injuries from sudden braking and swerving in the Zoox test vehicles. Waymo has also reported similar test driver injuries to OSHA.

Conflicting Accounts on Gas Exposure

Exactly what gases the Zoox employees were exposed to remains unclear. Davis said he and two other workers who became sick were told at the emergency room that their symptoms were consistent with carbon monoxide exposure. The complaint filed with OSHA mentions possible carbon dioxide, or CO2, exposure.

Zoox told OSHA in a September 10 letter, viewed by TechCrunch, that it examined its test vehicles for signs of CO2 and replaced their 12-volt batteries. Damaged batteries can produce hydrogen sulfide gas, which creates a "rotten egg" smell. Some of the employees who spoke to TechCrunch said they noticed a similar smell in the cars.

Zoox identified 28 employees who rode in six test vehicles that had an "unexplained odor," the company said in its letter to OSHA. Zoox told OSHA that 10 workers "voluntarily underwent medical evaluation" to "determine whether any exposure had occurred." Zoox said in the letter that it received only "one medical report identifying CO2 exposure."

Zoox told TechCrunch it hasn't identified the presence of carbon monoxide, which is odorless, in its vehicles. The company told TechCrunch it consulted an outside medical expert to help investigate the issues and that the only gas it detected in the impacted vehicles was CO2.

In the letter to OSHA, the company said it will add CO2 monitors to the vehicles to detect any future issues.

This article was originally reported by TechCrunch in August 2026 and reflects the most current information available at that time.

via TechCrunch