Amazon’s Self-Driving Taxi Has Been Approved For The First Time To Transport People On The Roads

Amazon.com Inc’s self-driving vehicle division Zoox has successfully tested a robotic taxi with employees as passengers on a public road.

The test took place after ZOOX received approval for an unmanned test from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). According to a statement released by the company, the document allowed the taxi robot to operate autonomously on public roads, empty and with Zoox employees as passengers.

However, the license does not allow the vehicle to travel on all public roads in the state. Testing is currently limited to transporting ZOOX employees on a public route of about a mile between two office buildings at the company’s headquarters in Foster City at speeds up to 1.6 kilometers per hour.

Self-driving retailer Amazon bought Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020. Zoox CTO Jesse Levinson said the company is being cautious about its growth but is still on track to reach 2,500 employees this year, up from just under 2,000 at the start of the year.