Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Amazon buys autonomous vehicle startup Zoox for more than $1 billion

By Aaron Mamiit June 26, 2020

Amazon has agreed to acquire Zoox, a self-driving vehicle and ride-hailing service startup based in California with nearly 1,000 employees. The move could signal Amazon muscling in on Uber and Lyft’s territory.

The deal was first reported by The Information, which said that Amazon is paying more than $1 billion for the acquisition. Amazon has since confirmed its purchase of Zoox, but did not disclose the transaction’s details.

“Zoox is working to imagine, invent, and design a world-class autonomous ride-hailing experience,” said Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s CEO, Worldwide Consumer, in a statement. “Like Amazon, Zoox is passionate about innovation and about its customers, and we’re excited to help the talented Zoox team to bring their vision to reality in the years ahead.”

Zoox, which was founded in 2014, has been working on self-driving vehicle technology for an electric-powered robo-taxi that customers will be able to request through a smartphone app. The startup has described its work as “creating autonomous mobility from the ground up,” and it appears that it will be able to continue its mission of developing a fully autonomous, purpose-built vehicle under Amazon.

Zoox CEO Aicha Evans — Zoox CEO Aicha Evans Steve Jennings / Getty Images

Amazon confirmed to Digital Trends that Zoox will operate as a standalone business, with CEO Aicha Evans and CTO/co-founder Jesse Levinson to continue to helm the company.

It is unclear if Amazon will be using Zoox’s systems to automate vehicles that will be used for delivering packages to customers, according to The Information. Amazon, which is no stranger to self-driving technology, may also be eventually looking to enter the ride-hailing space, where it will go head to head with Uber and Lyft.

Amazon’s acquisition of Zoox follows its purchase of the naming rights to the former KeyArena in Seattle, which will now be called the Climate Pledge Arena. The rebuilt arena will be carbon neutral and eventually zero-waste.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…

Cars

Waymo keeps autonomous driving simulations running as cars stay parked

waymo arizona self driving car hub operations explained maintenance chandler

Waymo parked its fleet of prototype self-driving cars in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but that doesn't mean the company has stopped working on autonomous driving tech. Even with employees working from home, Waymo is still capable of running simulations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, continuing to develop autonomous driving systems, a company press release said.

Simulations were a big part of Waymo's operations before the pandemic. One day in simulation is equivalent to 100 years of real-world driving, according to Waymo. The majority of development work on any new piece of software is already done in simulation, before being released for use in actual cars, the company noted.

Cars

A $1 billion investment will bring more EV charging stations to rural America

ChargePoint an NATSO to spend $1 billion on electric car charging

Lack of charging stations remains one of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption of electric cars, but two companies are planning to spend $1 billion to help address that shortage. Charging station operator ChargePoint and the National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO) plan to add charging stations at 4,000 sites in the U.S. While most charging infrastructure initiatives focus on heavily traveled corridors between major cities, ChargePoint and NATSO plan to focus on rural areas.

The agreement between ChargePoint and NATSO calls for charging stations to be installed at the 4,000 sites by 2030. At this point, the companies have only gone as far as signing a memorandum of understanding, so no actual work has started yet.

Cars

Californians can now have their groceries delivered by autonomous vehicles

this futuristic driverless pod will soon be delivering pizza in texas dominos nuro ai delivery

California just took a major step toward the commercialization of autonomous vehicles by approving them for light-duty use on public roads. This will pave the way for companies to use autonomous vehicles for delivery services in the nation's most populous state.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles will set up a permitting process for companies wishing to deploy light-duty autonomous vehicles. The ruling only applies to commercial vehicles weighing less than 10,0001 pounds -- known as Class 1 and Class 2. That includes vans and pickup trucks, but not larger vehicles such as buses or semi-trucks. Some companies -- including Waymo and TuSimple -- are testing autonomous semi-trucks in other states with friendlier regulatory environments.