Kodiak AI (Nasdaq: KDK) has secured a drivered-testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles under the state's newly expanded Autonomous Vehicle Tester (AVT) program — a first-of-its-kind approval that lets the Mountain View firm run its Kodiak Driver-powered heavy trucks on California roads with a safety driver behind the wheel.
Inside the permit
The permit, issued August 13, is the first stage in the CDMV's phased approach to heavy-duty autonomy, which will progress from drivered testing to driver-out testing and ultimately driver-out deployment. California's DMV finalized the underlying regulations on April 28, opening the door for heavy-duty autonomous trucks to receive testing permits on public roads for the first time.
Kodiak said the authorization marks "the first phase of scaling autonomous trucking coast-to-coast" in its home state, and thanked Governor Gavin Newsom for the regulatory framework. Founder and CEO Don Burnette framed it as a competitive unlock for California-born Physical AI companies.
Where Kodiak already runs driverless
Kodiak has been operating fully driverless commercial trucks outside California for more than a year, and in Q2 2026 it deployed seven additional driverless units to bring the customer-owned fleet to 35 vehicles. Its Kodiak Driver — a vehicle-agnostic autonomy stack pairing modular SensorPod hardware with AI software — is already hauling frac sand for Atlas Energy Solutions in the Permian Basin and has been chosen by long-haul customers including J.B. Hunt, Werner Enterprises and IKEA.
California becomes the last major AV domino
California had historically excluded heavy-duty trucks from its autonomous-vehicle testing program, forcing operators to develop tech in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and other states. The DMV's April rules changed that, and Kodiak's award positions it alongside Aurora, Waabi and Torc Robotics in the emerging California heavy-duty AV testing lane.
The permit lands during a broader industry regulatory unlock. In recent weeks the NHTSA granted Zoox a commercial exemption for its purpose-built robotaxi and state regulators cleared Waymo to charge for driverless rides across 18 California counties — signals that U.S. AV regulation is moving from pilot approvals toward at-scale deployment across both passenger and freight verticals.
Reporting based on coverage from Kodiak AI and GlobeNewswire.