Highly ambitious startup focused on developing fully self-driving, electric "robotaxi" from scratch

Zoox, established in 2014, is a highly ambitious startup focused on creating a fully self-driving, electric "robotaxi" from scratch. The company began with a unique 10-year license to utilize autonomous driving software developed at Stanford University. Zoox, under the leadership of CEO Aicha Evans and CTO Jesse Levinson, has expanded to over 200 staff, including more than 50 PhDs specializing in areas like computer vision and AI. They have been piloting their technology in San Francisco and Las Vegas using modified Toyota Highlanders.

In 2020, Zoox was bought by Amazon for approximately $1 billion, marking one of Amazon's biggest acquisitions. This purchase integrated autonomous vehicles into Amazon's collection of robotic technologies, including drones and warehouse robots. Post-acquisition, Zoox has focused on refining their autonomous driving technology and is gearing up to launch its first ride-hailing service. Despite its secretive nature, Zoox continues to be a major, forward-looking entity in the autonomous vehicle sector.