In what year did Amazon acquire self-driving startup Zoox? Amazon acquired Zoox in 2020.
Amazon announced the agreement in June 2020 and completed the acquisition later that year. Reports placed the transaction value at approximately $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion. Zoox remained a standalone business within Amazon, with its leadership continuing to develop autonomous vehicles and a purpose-built ride-hailing system.
Founded in 2014, Zoox pursued a more ambitious goal than simply supplying driver-assistance software: it designed an entire autonomous vehicle and the service around it. Its planned vehicle used a symmetrical layout and was intended to travel in either direction, eliminating the need for conventional front and rear ends. That makes Zoox different from companies focused mainly on self-driving software for existing cars.
A frequent mix-up is the acquisition year. Amazon announced the deal in 2020, not 2019, while Zoox’s technology development and fundraising began several years earlier. The purchase also differed from Amazon’s investments in electric-vehicle maker Rivian and other mobility companies.