Regulators are clearing the way for robotaxis without steering wheels or even brake pedals.

🚙 Zoox, an Amazon-owned robotaxi company, got federal approval yesterday to charge customers for rides in its unusual autonomous cars, which have four inward-facing seats and no steering wheel, AP reports.

• It still needs state and local approval to start charging riders.

Zoox has offered free rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco since last year.

• Chloe Huu, from Ann Arbor, Mich., said after taking a Zoox ride yesterday in Vegas: "It's kind of scary at first, but when I just got used to it, it's really cool and chilling."

🛞 The big picture: Most car safety rules were written decades ago, with the assumption that there would always be a human behind the wheel.

• But Jonathan Morrison, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, argues that in a robotaxi, you don't need steering wheels, windshield wipers or side-view mirrors.

🤔 Yes, but: Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an alliance of consumer and business groups, wants more evidence that vehicles can be safe without standard controls.

• Peter Kurdock, the group's general counsel, said: "Lots of promises, lots of glossy language, lots of 'We believe, we think we'll do this.' Yet there really was no data behind the promises."

What's next: NHTSA recently proposed allowing robotaxis to operate without brake pedals, but that's still pending.

• Morrison said his agency wants to update the regulations for fully autonomous vehicles while still acting as the "cop on the beat to make sure that this is being done right."

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The American Red Cross says more blood donors are still needed even after "tens of thousands" of people donated this week, Axios' Herb Scribner reports.

• The U.S. is facing a blood supply crisis that could last the entire summer, potentially delaying surgeries, trauma care and other treatments.

🏥 Red Cross spokesperson Daniel Parra tells Axios: "While we are grateful to all who have rolled up a sleeve this summer to save lives, we still need more donors to give in the coming weeks to not only rebuild the blood supply but also help sustain a stable blood supply through the summer."

• How to help.

1. 🌍 About 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain's tiny Ceuta territory in the past 24 hours, equivalent to 70% of the population of the self-governing North African city. Roughly half have already returned voluntarily after their sudden arrival triggered a humanitarian crisis. Get the latest.
2. ⚽️ Two senior FIFA officials criticized President Gianni Infantino's plan to sell stakes in a $20 billion World Cup subsidiary. One resigned as a presidential adviser, and a second said staff were deceived by the project. Go deeper.
3. 📰 Adam O'Neal, hired by Jeff Bezos 13 months ago to run The Washington Post's opinion pages with a focus on "personal liberties and free markets," resigned today. He told colleagues: "While this was not an easy decision, I am leaving proud of how far the opinion section has come and optimistic that its best days lie ahead." N.Y. Times gift link.

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is fueling a library run on Homer's epic, Axios' Mike D'Onofrio reports.

• One of the most in-demand editions: University of Pennsylvania professor Emily Wilson's translation, which Nolan credited with inspiring his film.

🤯 Zoom in: The Philadelphia Free Library has 100 holds for 13 print copies of Wilson's book.

• The ebook waitlist has 400+ holds.

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