Amazon might acquire a self-driving tech company to help automate deliveries
"Disneyland on the streets"... What Zoox wants to bring to the world — and don't call it a robo-taxi or self-driving car service: Zoox wants to build "an advanced mobility service." In 2018, the self-driving car company (sorry) hit a $3.2B valuation. Now, it might get acquired by Amazon ... but reportedly at a lower value.
- Zoox tried to differentiate itself by bringing the triple whammy of autonomous vehicles together as one: self-driving, electric, taxi. That brought in big investment bucks. But now...
- Bigger competitors are going for that same hat-trick: Uber acquired a self-driving startup, GM snatched up Cruise Automation, Google's Waymo started testing self-driving taxis, and Tesla has said electric robotaxis will be ready this year.
Amazon might get Zoox at a discount... Investors aren't so hot on Zoox anymore now that all these bigger, better-funded companies are going for the robotaxi gold. Amazon is seizing the moment to level up its driverless tech ambitions, without having to build anything from the ground up. Zoox gets some much needed cash, and Amazon gets some much desired tech.
If automation is involved, Amazon is probably interested... Amazon is all about speed, effectiveness, and cost. Where it can cut out expensive humans for tireless robots, it likely will.
- In 2012, Amazon paid $775M to acquire robotics startup Kiva Systems — now it has 10K of their robots in warehouses fulfilling orders (and potentially saving it billions).
- Last year, Amazon invested $530M in self-driving tech company Aurora Innovation — by acquiring Zoox, Amazon could get even closer to its goal of having driverless vehicles deliver its goods.