This year is set to be a pivotal one for Amazon’s autonomous vehicle division, Zoox, as the company accelerates efforts to expand operations and commercialize its robotaxi service.
Zoox plans to begin offering rides to the public “quite soon,” broaden its operational regions, and significantly grow its self-driving vehicle fleet beyond the few dozen currently in service. Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jesse Levinson shared these ambitious goals, noting the extensive work ahead.
“We’re pretty happy with the progress we’ve made,” Levinson remarked during a 40-minute drive in one of the company’s robotaxis around Las Vegas.
Zoox’s trajectory stands out in an industry where investor enthusiasm for autonomous vehicles has waned. Established automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Volkswagen have disbanded their self-driving units in recent years, highlighting the challenges within the sector.
Founded a decade ago, Zoox was acquired by Amazon for $1.3 billion in 2020. The company began testing its purpose-built robotaxis on public roads in early 2023.
Unlike traditional vehicles retrofitted with autonomous systems, Zoox’s robotaxis were designed from the ground up without manual controls such as a steering wheel or pedals. Testing is currently underway in three cities: Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Foster City, California, where Zoox is headquartered.
Las Vegas is poised to become Zoox’s first commercial market. The company aims to launch an “Early Rider Program” in the city within months, with plans to expand access to the general public later in the year.
Following Las Vegas, Zoox intends to bring its service to San Francisco, where testing began in November 2024. Levinson also mentioned potential expansions to Miami, Austin, and other cities, though no specific timeline has been disclosed.
“By the end of this decade, if you’re in most major U.S. cities, this will be your favorite way to get around,” Levinson said optimistically.
Amazon has not disclosed its financial investments in Zoox or other early-stage ventures, describing these as long-term initiatives aimed at benefiting the company and its customers.
Riding in a Zoox Robotaxi
Zoox’s robotaxi stands apart from competitors like Alphabet-backed Waymo, the leading U.S. player in robotaxis, which retrofits traditional vehicles with autonomous systems. Zoox’s design eliminates the need for a human driver entirely.
The vehicle’s unconventional appearance—often described as a “box” or “toaster”—features middle-opening doors, rows of seats facing each other, and no designated space for a driver.
GM’s Cruise had planned a similar concept, the Origin, but canceled production following regulatory and operational setbacks, including an accident involving a pedestrian in October 2023.
Sam Abuelsamid, an autonomous vehicle expert and vice president of market research at Telemetry Insights, praised the Zoox design, calling it “the right size of vehicle, the right kind of form factor.”
During a test drive around the outskirts of the Las Vegas Strip, the Zoox robotaxi performed well, handling turns correctly and driving assertively yet safely. Levinson emphasized that achieving a balance between caution and assertiveness is critical for autonomous vehicles to operate smoothly and avoid accidents.
Challenges and Opportunities
If Zoox achieves its growth and operational goals this year, it would rank as a distant second to Waymo in the robotaxi sector. Levinson tempered expectations, acknowledging that 2025 might not yet see Zoox become a “commercially meaningful business.”
However, he emphasized the importance of providing value to customers and rolling out operations methodically due to the safety-critical nature of autonomous systems.
Until late last year, GM’s Cruise was considered a frontrunner alongside Waymo. However, Cruise halted its operations after an October 2023 incident revealed it had misled regulators about a pedestrian accident.
Waymo’s head start in the industry remains evident. The company began supervised rides in Arizona in 2017 and unsupervised, driverless rides in 2019. By now, Waymo operates hundreds of vehicles across four markets, conducting over 150,000 paid rides weekly.
Despite technological progress, the robotaxi industry faces significant hurdles. Development costs have far exceeded initial estimates, with longer payback periods than anticipated.
On-road incidents and evolving regulatory landscapes add to the uncertainty. Companies like Tesla have expressed ambitions in the space but have yet to launch functional, driverless robotaxi services.
Waymo continues to solidify its lead. In 2024, it announced a partnership with Uber to integrate its robotaxis into Uber’s platform in Austin and Atlanta by early 2025. It also plans to expand to Miami by early 2026.
“They’re absolutely the leader,” Abuelsamid said of Waymo. “They’re the only ones operating any kind of real robotaxi service today at scale; they’re far and away the biggest.”