Recently I wrote that TaaS development seemed to be a three-horse race between GM, Tesla, and Waymo. Now it seems Amazon also has entered the autonomous vehicle race, if not for TaaS business reasons, then surely for reducing one of the company’s largest expenses: its $20 billion annual shipping cost. According to Automotive News (subscription required), Amazon is buying the autonomous vehicle startup company, Zoox. This acquisition follows Amazon’s investment in another self-driving startup, Aurora Innovation, as well as the $700 million investment in the electric vehicle startup, Rivian, that I wrote about last year. These kinds of investments and acquisitions make Amazon a serious contender in the race to develop autonomous vehicles. I still believes GM, Tesla and Waymo are leaders in this race. But Amazon might be in that second tier of companies like the partnership developing between Ford and Volkswagen.
Amazon Joins the Autonomous Party
