Amazon’s Zoox launches its autonomous robotaxi service

Amazon’s Zoox that its robotaxi service is now available on and around the Las Vegas Strip after of testing. The autonomous rides are free and can be booked through the Zoox app for iOS and Android devices. This is the company’s first official service launch after Amazon in 2020.

The Las Vegas service will operate at select pickup and drop-off locations along the Strip, and riders will enter and exit the vehicles at each destination’s ride-hail zone. Though the company didn’t provide an exhaustive list of locations, Resorts World Las Vegas and AREA15 are official partner destinations. They will both feature dedicated areas just for Zoox riders, with an on-site concierge service to walk riders through the app and answer questions.

The company’s is an odd duck, with two bench-like seats facing each other and no steering wheel. (Tesla is working on a similar “Cybercab” with no steering wheel or pedals, which is supposed to before 2027.) Its self-driving tech bears more similarity to existing vehicles though, with cameras, lidar, radar and long-wave infrared sensors.

Competition in the robotaxi market has been heating up as existing players continue and newer players . Waymo now operates in five cities with a by the end of 2025.

The launch of self-driving taxis hasn’t been without incident though. Zoox in May after one of its vehicles collided with a passenger vehicle in Las Vegas. In instance one of its taxis kept moving after a scooter-riding pedestrian ran into it. has issued a number of , and was the subject of a . Earlier this summer, a Tesla robotaxi with the tire of another parked vehicle before stopping. Most famously, one of Cruise’s robotaxis a pedestrian under its wheels, eventually leading to the program being .