Zoox said Monday that it has successfully tested its Robotaxi on public roads for the first time. Still highly limited in nature, the test connected two of the company’s buildings, which are a mile apart.
The Amazon owned autonomous driving company applied for a robotaxi license in July 2022, and will now use its robotaxi to cart employees between its two buildings—a service that will be offered for free, per Reuters.
“Putting the vehicle on [an] open public road and validating our approach to all of the different requirements, including regulatory, is a big step, and we would not have done it unless internally we were already looking at the line of sight for going commercial,” Aicha Evans, Zoox’s CEO, told reporters Monday.
Read: Amazon-Owned Zoox Applies For Robotaxi License In California
The first test was conducted on Saturday, February 11, 2023, and the service will help Zoox refine its technology while giving employees another way to travel between its California offices. The company did not, however, provide a timeline on a commercial launch. In order to start charging customers for rides, it will have to receive more government clearances.
Amazon bought Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020, while interest in autonomous technology was high. Since then, a number of major automakers have taken a step back from the development of the technology.
Ford and VW announced in the fall that they would be shuttering Argo AI, a self-driving unit that they both invested in. As autonomous tech has hit a frustrating plateau, a number of automakers are focusing, instead, on improving easier to implement driver-assistance technologies.
Both Google, through Waymo, and GM, through Cruise, continue to develop their autonomous tech, though. Last year, the latter became the first to gain regulatory approval to charge customers for rides in robotaxis in California, albeit under restrictive conditions.
While it is unclear if the autonomous industry will be able to make good on its once lofty ambitions, executives like Evans could at least soon see themselves represented onscreen, as the villains in the final Fast & Furious film.
