Zoox grounds Atlanta test fleet after workers report toxic gas exposure symptoms

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, which opened an inquiry and told Zoox to investigate the exposures.

As many as 40 workers were possibly exposed to the gases in the vehicles, according to a letter from OSHA to Zoox that TechCrunch viewed, though the Amazon-owned company says the number is lower.

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 have also contained potentially toxic gases, he said, because the workers experienced another bout of exposure symptoms later that day.