The Blubber

Per Reuters

With multiple companies having long been working on autonomous driving vehicles, Amazon has launched its self-driving business in Las Vegas for driverless robotaxis. This was launched under the company Zoox, which also started hiring more people.

The company reportedly increased its staff count by 16% at an advantageous time for Amazon. Zoox headcount grew from 1,900 to 2,200 according to Jesse Levinson, the company's Chief Technology Officer.

Levinson: "We are preparing for commercial launch and so it is important to beef up,"

This is as more large companies with their own autonomous driving sectors having decided to exit.

On June 16, Zoox decided to take to Las Vegas streets to test out its driverless taxis. What makes the vehicles different is that they don't have steering wheels or pedals.

So far, Zoox's autonomous self-driving vehicles have reportedly been driving around company employees.

In October, the co-founder and president of Lyft, John Zimmer, said autonomous vehicles won't replace drivers for at least a decade. He said autonomous vehicles would only handle 1-10% of future rides.

In March, once again, Elon Musk reinforced a 2016 promise saying the next Tesla car would be completely autonomous despite no new details revealed on the new vehicle.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• Lyft Co-Founder is Still Bullish on Drivers Saying Autonomous Vehicles Won't Replace Them for at Least a Decade
• Elon Musk reinforces 2016 promises of the next Tesla car becoming almost completely autonomous

Resources:

Reuters