Zoox Inc., a company of autonomous driving technology and a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc., has successfully conducted a test drive on public roads with passengers on board its fully autonomous vehicle. Zoox Inc. has become the first company to carry passengers on public roads in a fully autonomous vehicle designed without human controls. The successful robotaxi trip was conducted on a mile-long route between Zoox’s two main buildings in Foster City, California, using an electric vehicle with no steering wheel. This achievement is a significant step forward for the self-driving startup owned by Amazon.com Inc. in realizing its vision of deploying autonomous vehicles for public use.
Additionally, California extended Zoox’s driverless testing permit, which has been in place since September 2020, to include the purpose-built robotaxi, enabling the company to expand its service to the public. Notably, Zoox has been testing its self-driving technology on gas-powered cars that have been retrofitted with sensors for its public-road testing thus far.
Zoox, which Amazon acquired in 2020 for an undisclosed amount, is in a race with other startups, such as General Motors Co.’s Cruise, to deploy robotaxis. However, the technology is currently under increased scrutiny due to concerns about safety. Moving forward, Zoox intends to deploy an employee shuttle service along the same route as it awaits the necessary clearances to extend its autonomous driving services to the general public.
