Zoox, an Amazon company, commences testing of its self-driving vehicles in Seattle, US

Zoox is a company that manufactures self-driving vehicles and was acquired by Amazon for US$1.3 billion. For over four years, Zoox has been tested in cities across the US such as Las Vegas and San Francisco. Following this, Zoox intends to expand its offices in Seattle and roll out vehicles in a limited capacity by 2022.

The company claims that the goal of its self-driving vehicles is to revolutionize transportation in not only a few states but globally. To realize this goal, Zoox intends to account for obscure conditions and unknown roadways. In Seattle, Zoox predicts that its self-driving cars will have to adapt to the frequency of rainy weather conditions. Thus, the company has implemented specialized equipment in the vehicles that eliminate liquid and debris residue from its sensors.

Before Amazon bought the self-driving company, Zoox was losing US$13 million monthly during 2020 and was expected to be bankrupt by July. Zoox’s expenses were immense because the company decided to manufacture self-driving vehicles from scratch instead of repurposing existing vehicles.

Jesse Levinson, CTO and Co-Founder of Zoox, shared the company’s enthusiasm to expand in Seattle and stated that the data collected will help advance the development of the AI stack. The self-driving vehicles, which will be tested in Seattle, are designated as L3 vehicles and can detect and adapt to environmental changes and make independent decisions. However, L3 vehicles need human attention.

L5 vehicles are also manufactured by the company and appropriate the same sensor design as L3 vehicles but do not need human attention or even steering wheels. Zoox proposes that these self-driving vehicles will only be made commercially available when the company determines that its vehicles are safer than if driven by humans.

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