Amazon enters the ride-hailing market with acquisition of autonomous tech firm Zoox

Amazon and Zoox have announced that they’ve signed an agreement for Amazon to acquire Zoox.

Zoox is described as a team that is working to pioneer the future of ride-hailing by designing autonomous technology from the ground up, with passengers front-of-mind.

Aicha Evans, Zoox CEO, and Jesse Levinson, Zoox co-founder and CTO, will continue to lead Zoox as a standalone business as they innovate and drive towards their mission.

"Zoox is working to imagine, invent, and design a world-class autonomous ride-hailing experience," said Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s CEO, Worldwide Consumer. "Like Amazon, Zoox is passionate about innovation and about its customers, and we're excited to help the talented Zoox team to bring their vision to reality in the years ahead."

"This acquisition solidifies Zoox's impact on the autonomous driving industry," said Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox. "We have made great strides with our purpose-built approach to safe, autonomous mobility, and our exceptionally talented team working every day to realize that vision. We now have an even greater opportunity to realize a fully autonomous future."

"Since Zoox's inception six years ago, we have been singularly focused on our ground-up approach to autonomous mobility," said Jesse Levinson, Zoox co-founder and CTO.

"Amazon's support will markedly accelerate our path to delivering safe, clean, and enjoyable transportation to the world."

Zoox started in 2014 with the vision of purpose-built, zero-emissions vehicles designed for autonomous ride-hailing, along with an end-to-end autonomy software stack.

Zoox's ground-up vehicle focuses on the ride-hailing customer, with tightly integrated features, which they say is designed to provide a “revolutionary” passenger experience.

A spokesperson for Zoox said the company’s approach to invention provides flexibility and the means to iterate rapidly to continuously deliver a superior experience for customers.

Completion of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Image credit: Amazon/Pixabay