Amazon's Zoox recalls hundreds of robotaxis to fix critical flaw
What's the story
Amazon's self-driving arm Zoox has issued a recall for 270 of its robotaxi cars. The move comes after an empty Zoox robotaxi crashed into a passenger car in Las Vegas on April 8. No one was injured and both vehicles were only slightly damaged. The recall stems from a flaw in the vehicle's automated driving system that could misjudge another car's movement and "increase the risk of a crash," according to an NHTSA report filed on May 1.
Issue resolved
Zoox identifies issue and implements software update
In the wake of the incident, Zoox paused all driverless vehicle operations for an internal review. The company has now resumed operations after rolling out a software update across its entire fleet. "After analysis and rigorous testing, Zoox identified the root cause," said the company in a blog post. "We issued a software update that was implemented across all Zoox vehicles."
Acquisition details
Amazon's acquisition and Zoox's testing locations
Amazon acquired Zoox in 2020 for over $1 billion to make the self-driving tech company's "vision for autonomous ride-hailing a reality." However, Amazon has still not matched Alphabet's Waymo, which operates robotaxi services in some US markets. Tesla also plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin this June. Currently, Zoox is testing its robotaxis in Las Vegas and Foster City (California). Last month, it began trials with a small fleet of modified vehicles in Los Angeles.