Zoox commercialized in Las Vegas Amazon (AMZN.US)'s “autonomous driving ambition” is being realized

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Zoox, an autonomous driving company owned by Amazon (AMZN.US), is rapidly entering the commercialization stage. Its autonomous taxi service has been officially launched to the public on the Las Vegas Strip, and production capacity expansion and business expansion plans in many US cities have been launched simultaneously. Zoox emphasized that the company is currently the only company in the world that enables taxis created specifically for autonomous driving scenarios to operate in compliance on public roads.

In Las Vegas, Zoox has been designated as the official online ride-hailing service provider for T-Mobile stadiums. This is also the first time that the autonomous mobility company has partnered with a major stadium. The new service will set up a dedicated pick-up and disembarkation lane at the VIP entrance on the west side of the venue. This collaboration is viewed as a transformative moment for future transportation development at T-Mobile Stadium and even Las Vegas.

Notably, Zoox is expected to launch passenger charging services in Las Vegas in early 2026 and implement a toll model in the San Francisco Bay Area later in the same year.

Zoox's testing scope has expanded from the West Coast core to Washington, D.C., and the test network has grown to eight cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington. In Los Angeles in particular, as part of California's expansion plans, Zoox has announced that it will carry out vehicle mapping and testing work on public roads.

In the next step, Zoox will enter a large-scale expansion phase: it plans to drastically increase the size of its fleet, build a new production base in the San Francisco Bay Area, and gradually break through the current limitation of operating dozens of vehicles in only a few US cities. The industry believes that the Las Vegas Strip operation will be an important display window for Zoox's unique symmetrical two-way electric autonomous taxi design.

According to information, Amazon acquired Zoox for about 1.2 billion to 1.3 billion US dollars in 2020. As an independent subsidiary, Zoox operates under the leadership of the original management team. Looking forward to the future, Amazon is expected to use Zoox's autonomous driving system and advanced technology to improve the level of automation of its warehousing logistics and distribution network — especially in the “last mile” delivery process. Industry analysis indicates that large-scale application may significantly reduce Amazon's overall logistics costs.