Skip to main content

Amazon 'in talks to buy' AV start-up Zoox

Any such deal would move online giant into driverless world
By Adam Hill May 27, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Amazon is 'in talks with' driverless vehicle specialist Zoox, says WSJ report (© Andrey Suslov | Dreamstime.com)

Amazon is in "advanced talks" to acquire autonomous mobility start-up Zoox, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Neither company has commented on the report, which says that the deal would value Silicon Valley-based Zoox below $3.2 billion.

Amazon is heavily involved in electric vehicles has been less bullish publicly about AVs.

However, home deliveries - a key part of Amazon's offering - is one area in which driverless vehicles might be expected to make an impact.

On its website Zoox, which was formed in 2014, sets much store by its experience in complex road environments.

"Zoox is driving autonomously in ways that no one else has shown. We are driving in cities and on highways. Making unprotected lefts and rights on red. Yielding to pedestrians and passing double parked vehicles."

It describes San Francisco and Las Vegas as 'anchor' markets "for us to rigorously test and validate".

The company says it applies "the latest in automotive, robotics and renewable energy to design a symmetrical, bidirectional, zero-emissions vehicle from the ground up to solve the unique challenges of autonomous mobility".

Below is a video showing a 'fully autonomous' Zoox drive through San Francisco...

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Amazon India to deploy 10,000 EVs by 2025
    January 24, 2020
    Amazon India is to deliver 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025 in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of its delivery operations. 
  • Lyft to buy bike-share group PBSC
    April 21, 2022
    Ride-hailing giant is keen to make further inroads into docked micromobility market
  • Aurora to develop ride-hailing AVs
    February 17, 2021
    Group partners with Toyota to deliver affordable autonomous ride-sharing vehicles
  • When will Google wake up to MaaS gold mine?
    December 3, 2018
    Mobility services are a potential gold mine for data-hungry tech companies. That being the case, Andrew Bunn asks: what exactly happens when giants such as Google and Amazon decide to get their teeth into MaaS? There are many different perspectives on Mobility as a Service (MaaS), with many different views on what the latest and future applications of technology are going to bring to transportation infrastructure. However, there is one question that does not seem to come up at all. Up to now, MaaS-relate