Amazon-owned robotaxi company Zoox will start testing its autonomous driving technology in Seattle this month, after centering on Las Vegas and the Bay Area for the last four years. It also has plans to open an office in Seattle in 2022.

The company mentioned in a post that testing in a new city will give their vehicle and AI the opportunity to experience new challenges, including different infrastructure and weather, different by-laws, and altogether a different driving culture. These challenges will help in reviewing the hardware and software, eventually augmenting the capabilities of Zoox.

Zoox CTO and co-founder, Jesse Levinson, stated that they are excited to be testing in Seattle and the data they are collecting will be useful for the constant development and generalization of their AI stack.

Zoox last year revealed its in-house built electric robotaxi, but these tests will not include those vehicles. The deployment will include the company’s specially designed L3 Toyota Highlanders, which matches the sensor architecture on its own robotaxi. There will be “a safety driver” present on each Highlander to help in case the autonomous technology needs assistance.

It is worth noting that Amazon acquired Zoox last year for around USD 1 billion as a part of its strategy to venture deeper into automation, electric vehicles, and robotics.

Although Zoox mentioned that it is currently focusing on its robotaxi service, CEO Aicha Evans stated in an interview last year that its technology could eventually apply to package delivery. Evans had mentioned that first they are going to move people around which is the foremost demand, but if they can move people now, they can also move packages at some point.

Zoox presently has over 1,300 employees and plans to increase 450 more this year.

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https://www.geekwire.com/2021/amazons-zoox-will-test-autonomous-driving-technology-seattles-different-driving-culture/