Amazon orders 1000 self-driving systems from self-driving truck startup 'Plus' and considers acquiring 20% of shares
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Amazon has been testing the unmanned delivery robot Scout, which delivers luggage to customers' front doors from 2019, and in 2020, it acquired the startup Zoox, which develops self-driving taxis. We are strengthening our stance to enter the field. It was reported that Amazon is considering acquiring up to 20% of the shares after ordering 1000 autonomous driving systems from Chinese startup 'Plus', which develops autonomous driving truck systems.
Amazon Snaps Up Option to Buy Stake in AI Truck-Driving Startup --Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-21/amazon-is-in-talks-to-buy-stake-in-ai-truck-driving-startup-plus
Amazon eyes robot truck startup as it continues to hedge its bets on AV technology --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/21/22544243/amazon-plus-autonomous-truck-startup-stake
Amazon ordered 1,000 self-driving truck systems from new startup
https://www.inputmag.com/tech/amazon-ordered-1000-self-driving-trucks-from-new-startup
Amazon has option to buy 20% of Plus, self-driving truck startup going public in SPAC merger --Silicon Valley Business Journal
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2021/06/21/amazon-has-option-to-buy-20-stake-in-plus.html
Even if you say 'self-driving car' in one word, there are various types of cars such as cars used by ordinary households, taxis that carry passengers, buses that go around specific routes, and trucks that carry luggage. Among them, long-distance trucks often run at a constant speed on highways, etc., and are more predictable when driving than cars running in the city, so I think that autonomous driving technology will be realized first. Has been done.
First of all, the possibility that self-driving car technology will be realized in the field of 'long-distance trucks', why and what are its merits? --GIGAZINE
Founded in 2016 by Stanford University classmates and others, Plus, a startup based in California and China, employs approximately 200 people and is an 'autonomous driving sensor' for self-driving trucks. Only manufactures. Plus has plans to sell sensors to companies that own its own trucks, and has already partnered with Chinese logistics giant SF Express.
And, from a document released by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2021, it became clear that Amazon had ordered 1000 autonomous driving systems from Plus as of January 2021. The system can be installed on Amazon trucks, and Plus is said to have agreed with Amazon on services and support for trucks to use autonomous driving systems.
As part of the transaction, Plus has given Amazon the right to subscribe for up to 20% of its shares for 47 cents (about 52 yen) per share. In May 2021, Plus was reported to have agreed to merge with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) , which will be listed on the New York market in the third quarter of 2021. There is a possibility.
Plus is expected to raise approximately $ 500 million after the merger with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V., with a market capitalization of $ 3.3 billion. Plus's self-driving hardware will be mass-produced in the second half of 2021.
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