Amazon's Zoox to begin testing self-driving cars in Atlanta

The latest: Atlanta is the seventh city where Amazon is rolling out its Zoox testing fleet, which are retrofitted SUVs with human "safety operators," the company said Tuesday.

• Along with Atlanta, Zoox said it now has testing fleets in San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Austin.

What they're saying: "Atlanta also has a growing population, diverse road conditions, traffic patterns, and unique weather conditions, including frequent thunderstorms," Zoox said. "The city is located in a dense, urban landscape, which creates a strong demand for efficient transportation solutions like on-demand autonomous ride-hailing."

How it works: Zoox said it does not offer the public rides in its testing fleet.

• During its first phase, Zoox's testing fleet will be manually driven to learn more about Atlanta's street network, including traffic patterns, road conditions and other data.
• Once that's done, the autonomous vehicle will begin operating with a person inside. Zoox's software team will be alerted every time the person in the car has taken control of the SUV.
• The third and final phase includes introducing a "purpose-built" road taxi to the area, Zoox said.

State of play: Zoox's expansion comes a year after auto safety regulators opened an investigation into the autonomous vehicles when they began braking suddenly, leading to rear-end collisions, Axios' Nathan Bomey reported.

Catch up quick: This week, Waymo opens early access to select users who want to take a self-driving taxi around intown Atlanta.

• Waymo is expected to launch this summer.

Context: Atlanta is no stranger to companies using its streets to test autonomous vehicles. Along with Waymo, General Motors-owned Cruise tested self-driving taxis in 2023.