A vehicle designed backwards
Most robotaxis are ordinary cars with sensors added. Zoox, founded in 2014 and bought by Amazon in 2020, started from the passenger instead: a symmetrical, bidirectional pod with sliding doors, four inward-facing seats, no steering wheel or pedals, and four-wheel steering so it never has to reverse. It looks like nothing else on the road, which is the point.
Regulating a car with no wheel
U.S. federal safety standards assume a driver's seat, a steering wheel and pedals. A vehicle without them needs an exemption or a self-certification that it meets the intent of the rules another way. Zoox self-certified its vehicle as compliant in 2023 and began carrying employees; NHTSA opened an inquiry into that approach, and the question of how to certify purpose-built vehicles remains one of the field's regulatory frontiers.
Where it runs
Zoox tested with retrofitted Toyota Highlanders for years before its own vehicle carried passengers. It opened public rides on the Las Vegas Strip in 2025, has tested in San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Seattle and Los Angeles, and is building a factory in California to produce the vehicle at scale. It is smaller than Waymo in every measure and has taken the slower, more deliberate path.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Zoox?
Amazon, which acquired the company in 2020 for a reported figure above a billion dollars.
Is a Zoox legal without a steering wheel?
Zoox certified its vehicle as meeting federal safety standards through alternative means, and it carries passengers under that certification. Regulators have questioned the approach, and the rules for purpose-built vehicles are still being written.