Zoox is now mapping the streets of Dallas, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, as a precursor to testing its autonomous vehicles in the two Sun Belt cities. The move marks the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle developer's entry into Arizona and represents another step in its ambitious expansion across the United States.
To start, Zoox will deploy a "small number" of its retrofitted Toyota Highlander SUVs, with a human safety driver behind the wheel, to map the areas before it introduces its toaster-shaped robotaxis.The company noted that Phoenix offers "the opportunity to test our sensor and battery performance against extreme heat and dust on high-speed roads," while "Dallas provides a valuable testing ground to refine our AI against diverse weather and complex road networks."
The expansion gives Zoox's fleet a presence in 10 U.S. markets, alongside Atlanta, Austin, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.The company said it is opening depots in Dallas and Phoenix, as well as a new command center in Scottsdale, to support the new markets, which it claims will create hundreds of new jobs.
This is the first time Zoox will be operating in Arizona, which has long been a hotbed for autonomous vehicle testing thanks to the state's permissive regulations, flat terrain, and warm weather. Phoenix was where rival Waymo first launched its robotaxi service in 2020.
Zoox has served more than 300,000 riders since its public launch in Las Vegas and San Francisco and has logged more than 1 million autonomous miles.The company has opened a 220,000-square-foot factory in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it aims to produce 10,000 vehicles a year once it's fully operational.
Despite this progress,the Amazon-owned company is still waiting for federal approval to commercially operate its purpose-built AV.In August 2025, the NHTSA issued an exemption for Zoox driverless vehicles under its newly expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Program, which currently permits demonstrations but not yet full commercial operations.The broader exemption Zoox is seeking would allow the company to operate as many as 2,500 self-driving cars on U.S. roads.
The expansion comes as Amazon tries to compete with Alphabet-owned Waymo, which dominates the autonomous vehicle market in the U.S., as well as Tesla.While Waymo has been leading commercial deployments in the sector and Tesla is betting on its production capacity and AI technology to give it an edge, Zoox has been gradually scaling operations, launching limited services in Las Vegas and a pilot rider programme in San Francisco late last year.