Amazon’s Zoox tests robotaxi on public road with employees as passengers

Amazon.com Inc’s self-driving vehicle unit, Zoox, said it has successfully tested a robotaxi with employees as passengers on a public road in a move to bring it closer to commercial service for the general public.

The February 11 test, conducted between two Zoox buildings a mile apart at its headquarters in Foster City, California, was part of the launch of a no-cost employee shuttle service that will also help the company refine its technology.

“Putting the vehicle on (an) open public road and validating our approach to all of the different requirements, including regulatory, is a big step and we would not have done it unless internally we were already looking at the line of sight for going commercial,” Chief Executive Aicha Evans told reporters on a conference call.