Amazon moves into robo-taxi field with deal for Zoox

Amazon said on Friday it was buying the self-driving car tech startup Zoox, in an effort to rev up the drive for autonomous ride-hailing, AFP reported.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report in The Information said Amazon was paying more than $1 billion for the California startup developing autonomous technology in a field that includes Google sibling Waymo and others.

“Zoox is working to imagine, invent, and design a world-class autonomous ride-hailing experience,” said Jeff Wilke, who heads Amazon Worldwide Consumer.

“Like Amazon, Zoox is passionate about innovation and about its customers, and we’re excited to help the talented Zoox team to bring their vision to reality in the years ahead.”