Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company, is accelerating its robotaxi expansion. The company announced it's scaling up operations in San Francisco and Las Vegas while preparing to launch in Austin and Miami, marking a significant push into new markets after logging nearly 2 million driverless miles and 350,000 passenger trips. The move signals growing confidence in autonomous vehicle technology as the race to commercialize self-driving cars heats up.
Zoox is making its most aggressive expansion bet yet. The Amazon-backed robotaxi company just announced it's pushing into Austin and Miami, two sprawling Sun Belt metros that represent a major test for its purpose-built autonomous vehicles. At the same time, Zoox is ramping up service in San Francisco and Las Vegas, where it's been steadily building out operations since launching customer rides last year.
The numbers tell a story of steady, methodical progress. Zoox has racked up nearly 2 million driverless miles and ferried roughly 350,000 passengers across its existing markets. Those figures put it behind Waymo, which has logged millions more miles and operates a commercial service in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, but ahead of most other autonomous vehicle startups still struggling to get beyond testing phases.
What sets Zoox apart is its vehicle design. The company went all-in on a custom-built robotaxi with no steering wheel, no pedals, and bidirectional driving capability. It's a bold bet that purpose-built vehicles will win out over retrofitted consumer cars, the approach favored by competitors like Cruise and many others. The vehicle seats four passengers facing each other, with sliding doors on both sides and a symmetrical design that lets it drive equally well in either direction.
But there's a catch. Zoox operates under what's called a , which means it can't charge passengers for rides. This regulatory limbo has become a familiar holding pattern for autonomous vehicle companies navigating a patchwork of state and federal rules. While has secured the permits needed to run a paid service in multiple cities, Zoox is still building its case with regulators.
