Amazon-owned robotaxi concern Zoox, which is the only autonomous vehicle company to date that has put purpose-built taxis on the road that don't have steering wheels or driver's seats, is rolling out more test vehicles on the streets of SF.

Following on the heels of Waymo, which now has hundreds of autonomous cars out on SF's streets at any given time, ferrying people around on paid rides, Zoox is going to start testing its robotaxis — but only in the SoMa neighborhood to start.

"During this testing phase, rides will not be available to the public," the company said in an announcement. "Zoox employees can take rides, helping to refine the experience. As testing progresses, we will expand our geofence to include additional neighborhoods throughout the city."

As we saw with Waymo, the rollout began with a waitlist for beta testers and a limited area of the city where the cars operated, before opening up the service to everyone and the whole city last year. Zoox may opt for a similar approach.

And while Waymo's white Jaguar F-Pace models with their Lidar sensors have become commonplace sights, Zoox vehicles are a bit odder looking and stand out on city streets. The four-seater taxis don't look like regular cars, with the two rows of seats inside facing each other, and no windshield or manual controls. They look more like futuristic toys made life-size, and even their head and tail lights look funny.

The cars have been in testing mode, with safety "drivers" on board, on SF streets for over five years now, but you still may not have run into one in traffic.

"Zoox is the only company driving a purpose-built robotaxi on public roads without traditional manual controls,” says Jesse Levinson, co-founder and CTO, in a statement. “This expansion marks our third city for our robotaxi operations, following Foster City and Las Vegas. We’ve rigorously tested and validated our AI stack in multiple cities over the last seven years in preparation for the deployment of our robotaxi fleet."

Levinson adds, "From day one, our robotaxis will be leveraging a deep history and understanding of this area."

Zoox's four-passenger vehicles are akin to the driverless shuttles run by another company, Beep, that currently ferry people in a loop around Treasure Island. Though those little mini-buses travel only at low speeds.

The first news reports you're likely to see about Zoox starting to take passengers from the broader public, will start in 2025 in Las Vegas, where the company has also been testing and where it will takes its first public fares.

"The Strip is one of the most highly trafficked areas in Las Vegas and is full of complex driving scenarios," the company says. "These include areas of more than eight lanes of traffic with multiple turning lanes, high speeds, heavy pedestrian traffic, and large-scale intersections. Deploying our robotaxi in this dynamic area will provide invaluable learnings for our AI stack and service as we prepare Zoox for its first riders."

People interested in being among the early test riders in Vegas, or, eventually, in SF, are encouraged to sign up for the company's newsletter.