Amazon is gearing up to make as many as 10,000 robotaxis annually at a sprawling plant near Silicon Valley as it prepares to challenge self-driving cab leader Waymo.

Amazon is gearing up to make as 10,000 robotaxis annually at a sprawling plant near Silicon Valley as it prepares to challenge self-driving cab leader Waymo

Amazon's Zoox has opened its first robotaxi serial production facility, it said on Wednesday, marking a crucial step towards launching a commercial robotaxi service that will compete with Alphabet's Waymo and Tesla.

The latest rollout expands Waymo’s Bay Area service area by 80 square miles and is the company’s third major launch on the Peninsula since it began operating outside San Francisco last August, starting with Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma. It added service in parts of northern Santa Clara County in April.

The autonomous ride-hailing company Waymo will expand its service area in Los Angeles for the second time this year.

Waymo will expand into more areas of the San Francisco peninsula and parts of Silicon Valley, as the sole commercial robotaxi operator in the U.S. seeks to scale up operations, the Alphabet unit said on Tuesday.