A Zoox robot taxi runs in San Francisco, California on November 19, 2025.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
AmazonZoox is a toaster-shaped self-driving car. Uber The app is launching in Las Vegas this summer, the latest sign of momentum in the nascent but rapidly growing robotaxis market.
As part of a multiyear partnership announced Wednesday, the companies said they plan to make Zoox rides available in Los Angeles next year. In both cities, Zoox will also continue to offer rides on its own app.
Amazon, which acquired Zoox in 2020, is far behind. of the alphabet Waymo, the US robot taxi giant. Waymo announced in February that it had exceeded 400,000 weekly rides in six U.S. metropolitan areas. We currently operate our services commercially in 10 US cities and aim to expand to London and Tokyo in 2026.
Meanwhile, Asian robotaxi companies Baidu’s Apollo, we ride And Pony.AI continues to expand. Baidu reported that peak weekly ridership in the fourth quarter exceeded 300,000.
Zoox’s deal with Uber is a sign of growing confidence in Amazon’s expanding capabilities after years of development and marks the company’s first partnership with a third-party platform.
“This partnership is an opportunity to continue advancing the use of self-driving mobility in everyday life,” Zoox CEO Aicha Evans said in a statement. “Through our collaboration, Zoox will deliver a differentiated passenger experience to people who already know and love the convenience of Uber.”
For Uber, the partnership comes as executives tout its platform as the best way for self-driving car makers to tap rider demand.
During Uber’s fourth-quarter earnings call in February, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told analysts that AVs available through the company’s app are achieving “significantly higher usage rates” than robotaxis available on a “standalone platform,” based on estimates based on unspecified public data. Khosrowshahi said Uber’s daily rides per AV are 30% higher.
Uber said in a statement that it aims to offer driverless rides in 15 cities by the end of 2026. The company has already introduced driverless options in Atlanta, Austin, Texas, Dallas and Phoenix in the US, as well as several cities in the Middle East in collaboration with various partners.
UBER CEO Dara Khosrowshahi speaks on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2026.
Oscar Molina CNBC
As their robotaxi-branded services and apps become more accessible to travelers and commuters, they could steal market share from Uber and rivals such as: lift or didi In China.
tesla has launched a Robotaxis-branded app and ride-hailing service and begun fleet testing of a small number of driverless vehicles in Austin.
Zoox began offering free driverless rides on the Las Vegas Strip and parts of San Francisco last year. Although it has served more than 300,000 passengers, the company announced in early March that it was not yet offering paid rides. Earlier this week, Zoox announced an expansion of its testing efforts in some cities in the South.
Zoox robotaxis are nicknamed “toasters” because of their low steps, automatically opening and closing doors, and seats facing each other. The vehicle has a top speed of 115 mph, but typically travels no more than 45 mph.
Zoox is seeking an exemption from U.S. regulators to develop its robotaxi commercially. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday began public comment on Zoox’s petition seeking permission to operate up to 2,500 vehicles on U.S. roads.
Regulators had previously authorized Zoox to deploy the custom-built vehicle solely for research and demonstration purposes.
WATCH: Robotaxis will become mainstream in 2025
