Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: Amazon's Zoox launches its autonomous robotaxi service

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:37:50 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/transportation/amazo...

Amazon's Zoox has announced that its robotaxi service is now available on and
around the Las Vegas Strip after months of testing. The autonomous rides are
free and can be booked through the Zoox app for iOS and Android devices. This
is the company's first official service launch after Amazon acquired the self-
driving startup in 2020.

The Las Vegas service will operate at select pickup and drop-off locations
along the Strip, and riders will enter and exit the vehicles at each
destination's ride-hail zone. Though the company didn't provide an exhaustive
list of locations, Resorts World Las Vegas and AREA15 are official partner
destinations. They will both feature dedicated areas just for Zoox riders,
with an on-site concierge service to walk riders through the app and answer
questions.

The company's autonomous vehicle is an odd duck, with two bench-like seats
facing each other and no steering wheel. (Tesla is working on a similar
"Cybercab" with no steering wheel or pedals, which is supposed to go into
production before 2027.) Its self-driving tech bears more similarity to
existing vehicles though, with cameras, lidar, radar and long-wave infrared
sensors.

Competition in the robotaxi market has been heating up as existing players
continue expanding into new markets and newer players join the space. Waymo
now operates in five cities with a goal of 10 by the end of 2025.

The launch of self-driving taxis hasn't been without incident though. Zoox
issued a software recall in May after one of its vehicles collided with a
passenger vehicle in Las Vegas. In another instance one of its taxis kept
moving after a scooter-riding pedestrian ran into it. Waymo has issued a
number of recalls, and was the subject of a NHTSA probe. Earlier this summer,
a Tesla robotaxi made light contact with the tire of another parked vehicle
before stopping. Most famously, one of Cruise's robotaxis pinned a pedestrian
under its wheels, eventually leading to the program being shuttered.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/amazo...
robotaxi-service-153750246.html?src=rss

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