Amazon will acquire Zoox, a self-driving startup founded in 201 that has raised nearly a billion USD in funding, and which aims to develop new self-driving passenger and goods vehicle autonomous driving technology including software, AI, and their own ride-hailing platform all at the same time. Amazon will pay $1.3bn in cash for the takeover, with a plan to create at least $100 million in stock awards to retain the 900-plus employees of Zoox.
Amazon’s autonomous ambitions to dominate American retail have been visible since 2016, when the company made its first parcel delivery via unmanned drone. In January 2019, they showcased a six-wheeled Scout delivery robot. One month later, they made an investment in Aurora Innovation, the self-driving technology company formed by former Google, Tesla and Uber executives.
At roughly the same time, Amazon led a huge investment round in electric vehicle startup Rivian, and has since ordered 100,000 of that company’s delivery vans, slated to hit the road by 2024.
How Zoox acquisition would complement or compete with Rivian’s EV platform remains unknown. Amazon could utilize Zoox’s self-driving system on Rivian’s electric vans, but there’s also value in the bidirectional capabilities of the Zoox prototype, particularly in congested urban environments. Bidirectional means the vehicle can reverse directions without turning around. Or Rivian could be the industrial arm of Zoox. Or use Rivian’s batteries, motors and electronics, and get economy of scale.
Whatever which way it shakes out, clearly Amazon is progressively vertically integrating journeys of people and goods.
