Amazon’s Zoox enters robotaxi race with Las Vegas rollout

{"text":[[{"start":9.25,"text":"Amazon’s driverless car start-up is launching services to the public as it enters a battle with Alphabet-owned Waymo and Tesla for the future of the US robotaxi market."}],[{"start":22,"text":"Zoox, which the American tech giant acquired for $1.3bn in 2020, is launching in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Riders will be able to use its app to hail the toaster-shaped vehicles between a number of specific destinations around the city’s 4.2-mile-long Strip."}],[{"start":41.54,"text":"The limited rollout is its first attempt at offering services to the public and represents a key milestone for the group as it plans to launch in San Francisco in the coming months."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":54.34,"text":"“We’re starting where we know the demand is today, which is people going from different attractions, properties and venues to different ones. It will be point to point between the venues,” said Aicha Evans, Zoox’s chief executive. “From there we will continue expanding, adding more robotaxis and building the business.”"}],[{"start":75.47,"text":"The effort also marks a significant step for the Amazon-owned operator in the race to develop driverless vehicles."}],[{"start":83.36,"text":"Billions of dollars have been spent by rivals such as Waymo and Tesla in the belief they can replace human-driven cabs worldwide, but the technology’s development has proven too costly for automakers such as Ford and GM, which have halted further work on robotaxis."}],[{"start":102.19,"text":"Zoox’s Las Vegas service will restrict users’ pick-up and drop-off choices, but initial rides will be free as the group seeks to attract users and gather feedback."}],[{"start":113.92,"text":"Zoox will also be the first US robotaxi operator to offer rides in a vehicle without a steering wheel. The company received an exemption from federal vehicle safety standards overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month, after the Trump administration moved to ease the rollout of autonomous vehicles. The company had been placed under investigation by the NHTSA after it self-certified its vehicle."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":145.01,"text":"“The timing is good because there is a lot of momentum in the US . . . They’ve [NHTSA] created the beginning of a framework which is good for everybody,” Evans said."}],[{"start":157.39,"text":"Zoox was founded in 2014 but has lagged rival Waymo, which launched its first public service in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2020. The Alphabet-owned company already operates more than 250,000 paid rides per week across five US cities."}],[{"start":175.39,"text":"Tesla in late June launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, for early access users, predominantly social media influencers, and has since expanded the service to the general public. Uber meanwhile has partnered with Waymo in Austin and Atlanta, Georgia, and signed some deals with other operators to roll out services."}],[{"start":200.01999999999998,"text":"Unlike its rivals, Zoox has decided to build a bespoke vehicle rather than retrofit existing cars. Although it operates a 220,000-square-feet final assembly site in Hayward, California, it still relies on specialist suppliers to build the vehicle’s chassis, body and key components including sensor equipment."}],[{"start":223.05999999999997,"text":"Zoox is aiming to roll out roughly 5,000 robotaxis annually by the end of next year, the Financial Times has reported. It is currently producing one vehicle a day and will have 50 to deploy across Las Vegas and San Francisco this year."}],[{"start":241.65999999999997,"text":"The company is targeting launches in Austin and Miami next year and is currently undertaking testing in Atlanta and Los Angeles."}],[{"start":251.89999999999998,"text":"“Since inception we’ve been so consistent with our vision, our business model, the way we want to execute and prosecute this mission,” Evans said. “We will stay grounded in the safety case . . . but also [a mentality of] don’t go too slowly, but don’t go too quickly, too.”"}],[{"start":278.41999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1757555009_7654.mp3"}