Robotaxi Zoox Succeed in Trials on Public Streets

JAKARTA – Zoox, a self-driving vehicle unit at Amazon.com Inc. announced on Monday February 13 that it has successfully tested robotaxi with employees as passengers on public roads. This was done in their attempt to bring the product closer to commercial service for the general public.

The test, conducted on February 11, between two Zoox buildings a mile apart at its headquarters in Foster City, California, is part of the launch of a no-cost employee shuttle service that will also help the company perfect its technology.

"Putting the vehicle on open public roads and validating our approach for all the different requirements, including regulations, is a big step and we wouldn't have done it unless internally we had seen the line of sight to go commercial," Zoox Chief Executive Aicha Evans told reporters. via telephone conference.

Evans declined to provide a timetable for a commercial launch, which would require additional government approval.

The industrial automated vehicle segment has not launched as quickly as expected as the technology has proven difficult to master. Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG last fall even announced they would be closing their Argo AI self-driving units and focusing on driver-assist technologies that provide quicker returns.

Companies still pursuing development of this technology include units of Cruise General Motors Co and Alphabet Inc's Waymo.

The Robotaxi Zoox, which was built as a fully autonomous vehicle from scratch rather than refining an existing car to be self-driving, comes without a steering wheel or pedals and has room for four passengers, with two facing each other.

Online retailer Amazon, which is aggressively expanding into self-driving technology, bought Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020.

But the rapid rise in interest rates and weak consumer demand fueled fears of a global recession, forcing many companies, including automakers and technology giants, to cut their workforces and reduce costs.

Zoox chief technology officer Jesse Levinson said the company is being cautious about growth but still on track to reach 2.500 employees this year, up from just under 2.000 at the start of the year.