Zoox

Current leadership (2)

• Aicha Evans CEOsecondary-verified
• Jesse Levinson Co-founder & CTOsecondary-verified

Founders (2)

• Jesse Levinsoncofounderfounded 2014-01-01
• Tim Kentley-Klaycofounderfounded 2014-01-01no longer at company

Former / Previously (2)

• Tim Kentley-Klay Co-founder & former CEOsecondary-verified
• Mark Schwager Operationssecondary-verified

Safety record

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Incidents affecting Zoox (9)

• NHTSA grants first Automated Vehicle Exemption to Zoox2026-06-03 · Regulatory action
• Zoox robotaxi struck an opening car door in San Francisco, injuring a street ambassador2026-01-17 · Injury
• Zoox recalled 332 robotaxis over unnecessary lane-crossings near intersections2025-12-23 · Recall
• Zoox recalls 270 ADS vehicles (NHTSA 25E-037) over moving near undetected pedestrians2025-05-22 · Recall
• ADS Software Error May Cause Crash2025-04-25 · Recall
• Zoox recalled ~270 robotaxis after a Las Vegas collision with a passenger car2025-04-08 · Recall
• Zoox recalls 258 ADS vehicles (NHTSA 25E-019) over unexpected braking near cyclists/motorcyclists2025-03-14 · Recall
• ADS Software May Cause Unexpected Hard Braking2025-03-14 · Recall
• Zoox robotaxi involved in vehicle collision during Las Vegas testing (Jun 2024)2024-06-01 · Collision

Includes incidents linked directly to this company, to its models, or to deployments of its models or under its operation. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Operated deployments (3)

• Zoox RobotaxiLos Angeles
• Zoox RobotaxiSan Francisco
• Zoox RobotaxiLas Vegas

Operator customers (1)

• Zoox3 deployments

Brains developed (1)

• Zoox Driving Systemfoundation-model · pilot

Peer companies

• Tesla4 models
• Aurora Innovation3 models
• Nuro3 models
• Waymo3 models
• Avride2 models
• Baidu2 models

Supplied by (2)

Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).

Financial state

Reporting basis

aggregator_estimate

Lifecycle stage

mature

Counterparty risk class

low

Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.

Funding rounds (2)

• Acquisition (Amazon)2020-06-26

  $1.3B(reported)

  Investors: Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (lead)

• Series A2018-07-16

  $500M(reported)

  Investors: Lux Capital (lead)

Regulatory filings (3)

• FMVSS self-certificationother · us_nhtsaactive
• 25E-090nhtsa recall · us_nhtsarecalled2025-12-22

  Linked models: Zoox Robotaxi

• 25E-029nhtsa recall · us_nhtsarecalled2025-05-01

  Linked models: Zoox Robotaxi

Acquisitions (1)

• acquired by Amazonfull acquisition2020-06-26

Sources (10)

1. Zoox — Amazon-owned, purpose-built robotaxi + Highlander test fleet, SF/Vegas/Austin/Miami/Seattle, recalls · https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/amazon-owned-zoox-issues-recall-following-robotaxi-crash/ ↗ · 2025-05-06
2. Zoox custom robotaxis to SF (SoMa) and Las Vegas (Strip); founded ~2014; Amazon 2020 · https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/30/zoox-custom-robotaxis-are-finally-coming-to-san-francisco-and-las-vegas ↗ · 2024-10-30
3. Zoox runs free public robotaxi rides in SF + Las Vegas; needs federal approval for paid; plans to charge 2026 · https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/amazon-robotaxis-software-recall ↗ · 2025-12-23
4. We're acquiring Zoox — Amazon announces agreement to acquire Zoox (no purchase price disclosed in the release) · https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/were-acquiring-zoox-to-help-bring-their-vision-of-autonomous-ride-hailing-to-reality ↗ · 2020-06-26
5. https://zoox.com/ ↗
6. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/10/amazons-zoox-jumps-into-us-robotaxi-race-with-las-vegas-launch-.html ↗
7. https://electrek.co/2026/03/24/zoox-expands-current-service-area-and-is-bringing-its-purpose-built-robotaxi-to-two-new-cities/ ↗
8. https://www.amazon.science/latest-news/how-the-zoox-robotaxi-predicts-everything-everywhere-all-at-once ↗
9. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-24/amazon-s-zoox-plans-to-expand-robotaxi-rides-to-austin-miami ↗
10. https://fortune.com/2025/12/08/amazon-robotaxi-service-zoox-plans-fees-vegas-san-francisco/ ↗

Common questions

What is Zoox?

Autonomous-vehicle company founded ~2014 by Jesse Levinson and Tim Kentley-Klay, acquired by Amazon in 2020 for over $1 billion. Zoox develops a purpose-built, bidirectional robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, plus a retrofitted Toyota Highlander test fleet. As of late 2025/early 2026, Zoox operates FREE public demonstration robotaxi rides (not yet paid commercial service) in parts of San Francisco (SoMa) and Las Vegas (the Strip), having opened to early riders/public after starting with employees and vetted guests in 2024. Zoox requires further federal approval before charging for rides and has stated it plans to begin paid commercial service in 2026. It also tests (with human safety operators) in Austin, Miami, Seattle, and Los Angeles using retrofitted Highlanders. Zoox has faced significant regulatory scrutiny: three software recalls in 2025 (258 vehicles in March for unexpected hard braking, ~270 in May after an April Las Vegas collision, and 332 in December for unnecessary lane-crossings near intersections), plus NHTSA probes. Amazon has positioned Zoox as its entry into autonomous ride-hailing, though it trails Waymo in commercial deployment.

Where is Zoox based?

Zoox is based in Foster City, California, USA.

When was Zoox founded?

Zoox was founded in 2014.

What does Zoox make?

Zoox has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: Zoox Robotaxi (Zoox builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).

Where does Zoox operate robots?

Zoox operates 3 verified deployments, including at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas.

Are there any incidents involving Zoox?

9 active incidents involving Zoox are on the DEPLOY registry. Each is a sourced, append-only record; retracted incidents are suppressed from this view.

Is Zoox safe?

Zoox has 9 active incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. 6 recalls and 3 incidents on record (1 serious, 2 moderate, 3 minor). Most recent: Jun 2026. Retracted incidents are excluded from this count.