We all know Amazon as one of the giants in the retail industry, but also to through many of its side projects. In recent talks, Amazon has attempted to create its own delivery network and by this cutting out driver pay to save cash. Amazon attempts to expand into the autonomous vehicle world while acquiring Zoox, which is a developer of robotaxi technology.
Zoox was founded in 2014 and it mainly works on software and hardware for autonomous vehicles. This company is very successful. Last year, Mark Matousker took a test ride in one of Zoox’s self-driving vehicles and described the experience more comfortable than taking an Uber. Zoox hopes to build its own fleet of robotaxis and the technology behind them, seeking to remain independent despite an acquisition. The company is based in California and declined to comment on the speculations.
“Zoox was likely to be bought by a large tech company and face a revaluation given the startup’s tenuous financial position due to its capital-intensive approach to developing self-driving technology. Acquiring Zoox should enable Amazon to expand its autonomous logistics capabilities.” Hussain said.
The Foster City, California-based company hopes to build its own fleet of robotaxis and technology behind them while they remain independent. The purchase terms would value Zoox below its estimated market value of $3.2 billion, but there is no final agreement yet and the timing of when a deal could be completed is not clear. Investors are hopeful because the deal would launch Amazon into the self-driving vehicle game, catching up to Google and Uber.
Last May, Amazon broke ground on its own $1.5 billion airport in Kentucky to have greater control over its own shipping operations. It is slated to be a designated Prime Air hub. The Prime Air service started in 2016 with the speculation that Amazon was looking to launch an overnight delivery network and lessen its reliance on UPS and FedEx to ship orders. Nowadays Prime Air operates out of smaller regional airports near its distribution centers around the country, helping Amazon to complete one- and two-day delivery options for most of the U.S. Amazon has made an $440 million investment into Rivian, which is an electric vehicle maker. This company is planning to buy 100,000 delivery vehicles and also invested $530 million in Aurora Innovations, which is also an autonomous tech startup created by self-driving stars from Uber, Tesla, and Google.
