Encore: Could Amazon’s Zoox Beat Tesla and Waymo in the Robotaxi Race?

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With Elon Musk’s Tesla piloting its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas and Waymo expanding, it’s the perfect time to revisit our interview with Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. She went deep with WSJ’s Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims on her decisions to sell the company to Amazon for over $1.2 billion and to keep Zoox’s radical design for a driverless car that looks like a lounge on wheels. As she and her rivals work to win customers’ trust, Evans’s insights into robotaxi safety are even more timely. Plus, in a brand-new segment Higgins and Mims dig into why this moment is so crucial for the robotaxi business to reach surprising new customers–like parents. Check Out Past Episodes: Tariffs, EVs and China: A CEO Insider’s View of the Car Business How Microsoft’s AI Chief Defines ‘Humanist Super Intelligence’ How Zipline’s Drones Are Taking Off in the U.S. and Rivaling Amazon Humanoid Robot Startups Are Hot. This AI Expert Cuts Through the Hype. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected] Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Oh, that's my prime delivery.
0:01.6	What, already?
0:02.7	Only one thing can match the buzz of Prime's fast delivery.
0:06.2	And that's the buzz of Prime's entertainment.
0:09.0	What are we watching?
0:09.7	Heads of state, that new action comedy with Idris Elber as the Prime Minister,
0:13.3	John Sina as the president, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, as their only hope.
0:17.0	It looks like a blast.
0:18.3	From fast delivery to explosive entertainment, it's on Prime. For only
0:23.0	899 a month, join now. Content includes limited ads, subscription, or to our news. For more
0:27.7	information, go to amazon.com.uk.U.K. slash prime. Hey listeners, Christopher Mems here from
0:32.3	bold names. We've got something a little different for you this week. Tim and I have been talking a lot about Robotaxies lately,
0:40.3	and we thought this was the perfect time to revisit one of our favorite interviews,
0:45.5	Aisha Evans, CEO of Zooks.
0:49.2	Just in time for Hot Robo Taxi Summer,
0:52.8	you might have heard our conversation earlier this year, and now that
0:56.1	Tesla is officially testing its self-driving cars on streets in Austin, Texas, and Waymo is
1:02.9	expanding.
1:03.9	Evans' insights into the Robo Taxi business are even more timely.
1:08.0	And make sure to stick around after the interview because we've got a brand new
1:12.9	segment where Tim and I go deep into why the stakes are so high as these companies try to win
1:19.1	customers trust, especially people who you might not think of as robotaxie riders, like parents
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.