Summary: Amazon’s autonomous taxi company Zoox has started testing its robotaxis in LA. Zoox’s testing fleet is now operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin, and Miami. The company says it should begin offering public rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco later this year.
E-commerce giant Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary Zoox has started testing its robotaxis in Los Angeles. LA marks the sixth testing location for Amazon’s Zoox. The company’s test fleet now operates in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin, and Miami. Zoox’s expansion of testing robotaxis is happening a few weeks after it issued a software recall of several of its vehicles.
Zoox continues to grow its presence in California by expanding testing operations in LA
Zoox has deployed a fleet of retrofitted test cars on the streets of LA. The data-collection move in LA marks the company’s entrance into the sixth city. It lays the groundwork for a future robotaxi service. Zoox is currently in the early stages and isn’t offering its services to the public just yet.
Amazon’s Zoox will deploy manually driven Toyota Highlanders in LA, outfitted with the company’s self-driving technology. The fleet will gather mapping data ahead of broader testing of autonomous taxis in LA this summer.
Zoox is also testing its purpose-built robotaxis made without a steering wheel or pedals in multiple cities. It has also expanded the areas where its robotaxis are testing on public roads in Foster City, San Francisco, and Las Vegas without a human driver. Furthermore, the company recently allowed employees, media, and other guests to try the service.
Zoox’s expansion into LA follows Waymo’s launch of paid robotaxi service in the city
Zoox has started testing its robotaxis in LA just a few months after the rival Waymo started offering commercial autonomous taxi service in the city. Alphabet-owned Waymo is currently the only autonomous vehicle company in the US that provides a paid service in multiple cities, including the Bay Area, Phoenix, and Austin. Waymo is also planning to launch its services to the public in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C. in the next two years.
Zoox will have stiff competition from Waymo once it begins offering public robotaxi rides in San Francisco and Las Vegas later this year. Notably, Lyft will also launch its robotaxi fleet in 2026 with an Uber-like approach. Zoox’s self-driving software is facing some problems, which forced it to issue a voluntary software recall of 258 vehicles. That said, Zoox still needs to lay a lot of groundwork before it can start its commercial operations.
