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

  • CES 2023: NXP chip for ADAS & AVs
    January 6, 2023
    Radar one-chip family allows long-range detection/separation of small and larger objects
  • Texas to form taskforce to develop C/AV projects
    February 5, 2019
    The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDoT) is to create a taskforce which will coordinate all ongoing connected and autonomous vehicle (C/AV) projects in the US state. The C/AV task force is being set up in order to document public and private C/AV efforts, facilitate partnerships, host industry forums and help encourage greater collaboration. James Bass, TxDOT executive director, says: “Our goal is to further build on the momentum already established with the Texas Technology Task Force and th
  • US regulator ‘paves the way for Google’s self-driving car’
    February 11, 2016
    A letter to Google, the US federal transport regulator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), appears to pave the way for self-driving cars, but adds the proviso that the rule-making could take some time. Google had requested clarification of a number of provisions in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) as they apply to Google’s described design for self-driving vehicles (SDVs). “If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable
  • New system expedites border crossings
    October 28, 2016
    Enforcing border controls can create long queues for travellers, David Crawford looks at potential solutions. Long delays at border crossings in both North America and Europe have sparked the development of new queue visualisation and management technologies that are cutting hours, even days, off international passenger and freight journeys. At the westernmost end of the 2,019km (1,250 mile) Mexico–US frontier, two parallel crossings between Tijuana, in the former country, and the border city of San Diego,