History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Zoox page on 6 February 2026, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Zoox, Incorporated is an American technology company subsidiary of Amazon developing driverless vehicles that provide mobility as a service. It is headquartered in Foster City, California, and has offices of operations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Zoox is a part of the Amazon Devices & Services organization along with other Amazon units like Amazon Lab126, Amazon Alexa, and Kuiper Systems.

Zoox was founded in 2014 by Australian artist-designer Tim Kentley-Klay and Jesse Levinson, son of Apple Incorporated chairman Arthur D. Levinson, who was developing self-driving technology at Stanford University. The name "Zoox" is a reference to Zooxanthellae, a marine organism that, like the Zoox robotaxi, depends on renewable energy and is able to maintain a symbiotic relationship with organisms in its surrounding habitat.

In January 2019, Zoox appointed a new CEO, Aicha Evans, who was previously the Chief Strategy Officer at Intel. On June 26, 2020, Amazon and Zoox signed a definitive merger agreement, under which Amazon acquired Zoox as a wholly owned subsidiary for over $1.2 billion. As is the case with other Amazon subsidiaries like Amazon Web Services, Zoox has no independent board of directors, but operates as a separate legal entity with its own governance structure. Zoox is a part of the Amazon Devices & Services organization with Evans reporting into Amazon Senior Vice President, Panos Panay.

Article Index

Date	Article	Details
6 August 2025	NHTSA Issues First-Ever Demonstration Exemption to American-Built Automated Vehicles Exemption made possible by Secretary Duffy’s Innovation Agenda and NHTSA’s expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Program.	Press Release (text) Publisher: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Dateline: Washington, D.C. Topic: Zoox
25 September 2025	Zoox, Inc.--Receipt of Application for Temporary Exemption From Various Requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for an Automated Driving System-Equipped Vehicle NHTSA is reviewing Zoox's application and will publish a subsequent notice seeking public comment on the merits of the application after the agency conducts its initial review.	Federal Register Notice (text) Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: David M. Hines Topic: Zoox
11 March 2026	Zoox--Receipt of Application for Temporary Exemption From Various Requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for an Automated Driving System-Equipped Vehicle; Request for Comment Specifically, Zoox seeks exemption from portions of FMVSS No. 103, Windshield defrosting and defogging systems; FMVSS No. 104, Windshield wiping and washing systems; FMVSS No. 108, Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment; FMVSS No. 111, Rear visibility; FMVSS No. 135, Light vehicle brake systems; FMVSS No. 201, Occupant protection in interior impact; FMVSS No. 205, Glazing materials; and FMVSS No. 208, Occupant crash protection.	Federal Register Notice (text) Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Jonathan Morrison Topic: Zoox