Amazon’s Zoox launches robotaxis in Las Vegas, with San Francisco next on the list
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE Amazon s Zoox on Wednesday launched its robotaxi operation in Las Vegas offering free rides through parts of the entertainment mecca for anyone willing to step into a driverless car Related Articles Tesla says its robotaxi app now open to community riders Tesla asks court to throw out big damage award in crash by arguing comments about Musk misled jury Nvidia faces trial over engineer s stolen code oops moment Tesla is slow in reporting crashes and the feds have launched an review to find out why Honda taps Silicon Valley startup in self-driving tool deal The Las Vegas debut of Zoox s long-planned ride-hailing provision reflects Amazon-owned robotaxi maker s confidence in the safety of its vehicles after two years of testing them in the city The boxy four-passenger robotaxis are built in a former bus factory in Hayward and they have been undergoing testing on San Francisco s streets for almost a year The Las Vegas vehicles initially were only available to employees before gradually expanding to friends and family members Now anyone with the Zoox app will be able to request a ride to five designated locations including Resorts World the Luxor hotel and the New York-New York hotel The longest distance the Zoox robotaxis will expedition is about miles All rides will be provided for free for at least the first limited months to help promote the utility in the perennially popular trip destination Once it begins charging for rides in Las Vegas Zoox says its prices will be comparable to traditional taxis and ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft Zoox can afford to give free rides largely because of Amazon s deep pockets The e-commerce powerhouse right now worth trillion bought Zoox for billion five years ago as part of its efforts to establish a foothold in other fields of tool The Las Vegas region marks Zoox s first step in its attempt to catch up with robotaxi leader Waymo a Google spin-off that offers that already provides driverless rides in the San Francisco Bay Area Los Angeles Phoenix Atlanta and Austin Texas where Tesla is still in the testing phase of a robotaxi utility that its CEO Elon Musk has been hyping for the past decade In a sign of its ambitions Zoox hopes to manufacture as a great number of as robotaxis annually as it expands into other markets Zoox is in the present operating about vehicles in Las Vegas and San Francisco After it starts charging for rides in San Francisco Zoox hopes to expand to Austin and Miami next
