The California Department of Motor Vehicles has issued a permit to autonomous vehicle technology startup Zoox to test driverless vehicles on public roads without a human safety driver behind the wheel.

Zoox appointed Aicha Evans, former senior VP and chief strategy officer at Intel Corporation, as...

Zoox appointed Aicha Evans, former senior VP and chief strategy officer at Intel Corporation, as CEO in 2019. Evans and Jesse Levinson, Zoox co-founder and CTO, will continue to lead Zoox as a standalone business.

Photo courtesy of Zoox.

The DMV issued the permit to test two autonomous vehicles in a designated portion of Foster City, Zoox’s headquarters, in San Mateo County. The vehicles are approved to operate in fair weather conditions (light rain/fog) on streets with a speed limit of no more than 45 mph, the agency said in a press announcement.

Zoox is the fourth company, along with Waymo, Nuro, and AutoX, to receive a driverless testing permit in the state. Currently, 60 companies have an active permit to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver.

Zoox had also received permission last year from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles to test on Nevada roads. 

Zoox was acquired by Amazon in June. The e-commerce giant also took part in Aurora Innovation’s $530 million funding round in early 2019.

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