Amazon’s Zoox to begin robotaxi service in San Francisco, challenging Google’s Waymo, Tesla’s Robotaxi

Riders in San Francisco have one more self-driving taxi offering, with Amazon-backed (AMZN) Zoox launching its robotaxi service in the city on Tuesday.

Zoox, which began operating its robotaxi in Las Vegas in September, says it is inviting members of the public who sign up for its Zoox Explorer program via the Zoox smartphone app to try out the service for free as it works to refine the overall experience and grow its footprint in the area.

Riders will be able to travel around specific areas in the SoMa, Mission, and Design District neighborhoods and either enter their destination or choose suggested points of interest.

“Zoox has been testing our autonomous technology in San Francisco since 2017,” CEO Aicha Evans said in a statement.

“It’s our home. A city of innovation and progress, with an amazing mobility ecosystem that we feel Zoox can really complement. We have seen incredible interest in Zoox in this market and are excited about this first step to bring our purpose-built robotaxi experience to more people,” she added.

Zoox differs from Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo or Tesla’s (TSLA) Robotaxi in that the vehicles themselves have been designed from the ground up to be completely driverless. There are no steering wheels or pedals, and riders sit on bench seats facing each other.

Because of their unique design, Zoox’s cars have no definitive front or back, meaning they can travel in either direction at normal speeds, switching their indicator lights to headlights or brake lights when necessary.

The cars sport an array of sensors and cameras and can be remotely controlled by Zoox workers if they become stuck or drive into an otherwise dangerous situation.

I rode in a Zoox at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, and while it managed to navigate the roads and congestion outside the Las Vegas Raiders’ stadium during a home game with ease, it stopped driving on its own when it came across a tightly packed construction zone.

A safety driver remotely took over the car, reversing course and resetting it to drive on its own.

Zoox faces stiff competition in the self-driving space. Google’s Waymo has millions of driving miles worth of data under its belt and has expanded its service from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Austin and Atlanta, with plans to offer rides in Miami and Washington, D.C. It’s also started testing in New York City.

And just last week, the company announced that it is now allowing highway driving, a major step up for robotaxis.

Elon Musk’s Tesla is currently invite-only and running in Austin, but it has expanded testing to Arizona with plans to grow beyond that in the near future.