A Zoox test vehicle drives past Seattle’s Pike Place Market. (Zoox Photo)

Zoox, the robotaxi company acquired by Amazon last year, will start testing its autonomous driving technology in Seattle for the first time this month, after focusing on Las Vegas and the Bay Area for the past four years.

The company also plans to open an office in the Seattle region in 2022, according to a Zoox post announcing the expansion Monday morning.

“Testing in a new city gives our vehicle and AI the chance to experience fresh challenges, including different weather and infrastructure, different by-laws, and a different driving culture,” the company said in the post. “These challenges will help us iterate our hardware and software, ultimately broadening the capabilities of Zoox.”

That euphemism about the “different driving culture” will get a chuckle from anyone who has ever driven in Seattle. Forget the Turing test. Can AI learn our unique combination of passive-aggressive politeness and outrage on the road?

“We’re excited to be testing in Seattle,” said Jesse Levinson, the company’s CTO and co-founder, in a statement. “The data we’re gathering will be invaluable for the continued development and generalization of our AI stack.”

Zoox unveiled its specially built electric robotaxi last year, but these tests will not involve those vehicles, and the company won’t be offering its autonomous ride-hailing service to the public here yet, a spokesperson confirmed. The deployment will involve Zoox’s specially equipped L3 Toyota Highlanders, which matches the sensor architecture on its specially built robotaxi.

There will be “a safety driver” on board each Highlander who can take over if the autonomous technology needs assistance.

Amazon acquired Zoox last year for a reported purchase price of more than $1 billion, part of a larger push by the company into robotics, automation and electric vehicles.

Zoox says it’s focusing for now on its robotaxi service. However, Zoox CEO Aicha Evans: acknowledged in an interview with Bloomberg TV last year that its technology could someday apply to package delivery:

“First, we’re going to move people around. That’s where the demand is. That’s the greatest benefit for society, the cities and everybody involved, meaning the customers, too,” Evans said at the time. “But yes, I will admit that if we can move people, especially with this footprint, at some point, we could move packages.”

Zoox isn’t releasing further details about its plans for a Seattle-area office, so it’s not yet clear exactly where it will be located, or how large it will be. Overall, Zoox has more than 1,300 employees currently and plans to add 450 jobs this year.

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