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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> reportedly ordered 1,000 autonomous truck-driving systems from a startup called Plus.</li><li>The retail giant also has the option to buy shares of the AI startup, according to a recent filing.</li><li>The technology falls in line with Amazon's focus on AI-related technology.</li></ul>Amazon has agreed to buy 1,000 autonomous truck-driving systems from a self-driving trucking startup, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-21/amazon-is-in-talks-to-buy-stake-in-ai-truck-driving-startup-plus?sref=LspfQlRv">Bloomberg first reported.</a>The self-driving trucking startup, Plus, makes AI-based software for trucks, and has also reached an agreement with Amazon to offer the ecommerce giant the opportunity to purchase shares, according to <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001829455/000121390021033147/ea142995-8k_hennessycapital5.htm">a Monday filing</a>.As part of the agreement, Amazon has the option to purchase up to 420,702,410 preferred shares of Plus at about $0.47 each, which would represent a 20% stake in the company. If Amazon were to purchase the maximum available shares offered, it would represent an investment of nearly $200 million.An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on Bloomberg's report beyond pointing Insider to the financial filing. A Plus spokesperson also declined to comment.Plus, based in California, is one of many companies that is working to create driverless systems. The Amazon partnership could eventually help Amazon remove the need for human drivers. This is just the latest example of the retail giant exploring what a future that does not rely on human delivery drivers could look like. This time last year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-reportedly-buys-self-driving-car-startup-zoox-for-one-billion2020-6">Amazon agreed to buy Zoox, self-driving taxi for over $1 billion.</a> Amazon's <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/amazons-self-driving-company-zoox-unveils-autonomous-robotaxi.html">autonomous robotaxi was unveiled later that year.</a>By using Plus' technology, Amazon could also eventually help overcome a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-labor-shortage-workers-hiring-chamber-commerce-jobs-emergency-2021-6">national labor shortage</a> that has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/labor-shortage-food-suppliers-prices-cost-wages-drivers-truckers-salaries-2021-6">heavily impacted the trucking industry</a>, forcing delivery delays and rising <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">transportation</keyword> costs. For now, the system - PlusDrive - still requires a licensed driver.But that could change in coming years. PlusDrive is Plus' first product and it operates similarly to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-full-self-driving-beta-isnt-autonomous-emails-california-dmv-2021-3">Tesla's "full self-driving" software,</a> which requires a licensed driver to keep their eyes on the road in case the system malfunctions or needs intervention. Plus CEO David Liu <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plus-bringing-tesla-self-driving-strategy-trucking-david-liu-2021-6">told Insider's</a> Mark Matousek the company hopes to sell a product that does not require a driver by the end of 2024.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plus-bringing-tesla-self-driving-strategy-trucking-david-liu-2021-6">This $3 billion autonomous-trucking startup is riding the SPAC boom by taking a page from Tesla's playbook</a>Plus started delivering automated-driving systems for semi-trucks earlier this year to companies in US and China. The company has provided Chinese delivery company SF Holding with its system which allows semi-trucks to drive over 900 miles per day.Plus was founded in 2016 and announced plans to go public via a <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/self-driving-truck-startup-plus-101116309.html#:~:text=Reuters-,Self%2Ddriving%20truck%20startup%20Plus%20to%20go,through%20%243.3%20billion%20SPAC%20deal&amp;text=(Reuters)%20%2DPlus%20said%20on,technology%20startup%20at%20%243.3%20billion.ion.">$3.3 billion SPAC deal in May.</a>It will not be Amazon's first foray into automated technology. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-amazon-monitors-employees-ai-cameras-union-surveillance-spy-agency-2021-4">Amazon has long used AI-related technology</a> to monitor employees and maximize productivity. The company has used AI as anything from a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-built-ai-to-hire-people-discriminated-against-women-2018-10"> tool to hire talent </a>to a system that tracks delivery drivers' movements and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-delivery-driver-camera-ai-bezos-2021-3">can even sense when a driver yawns.</a>

Amazon is reportedly buying 1,000 autonomous truck-driving systems, which could pave the way for one day ditching drivers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Self-driving truck startup <keyword id="947996" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="PLUs">Plus</keyword> is set to merge with the SPAC <keyword id="11182537" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hennessy-capital-investment-corp-">Hennessy Capital Investment Corp.</keyword> V.</li><li>Plus is hoping to raise up to $600 million in the deal which values the combined entity at over $3 billion.</li><li>Plus was founded in 2016 by Stanford Ph.D. candidates and has raised $520 million over the last five years.</li></ul>A self-driving truck startup called <a href="https://plus.ai/index.html">Plus</a> is seeking to raise up to $600 million in a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-30/self-driving-truck-startup-plus-said-to-plan-hennessy-spac-deal">Bloomberg reported on Friday</a>.The deal could go through as soon as next week, and the combined entity is set to have a valuation of over $3 billion, people familiar with the matter said.BlackRock, already an investor in Hennessey, is looking to put additional funds into the self-driving truck startup through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) as well, Bloomberg reported.The Hennessy V SPAC raised <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/01/21/2162091/0/en/Hennessy-Capital-Investment-Corp-V-Announces-the-Appointment-of-Independent-Directors-and-the-Formation-of-a-Strategic-Advisory-Council.html">$345 million</a> in a January IPO and has been looking for a partner ever since. It trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker "<keyword id="11182539" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hcicu">HCICU</keyword>."Hennessy V is chief executive Daniel J. Hennessy's fifth special purpose investment vehicle.The CEO has raised more than $1.5 billion from SPAC IPOs thus far, completing deals with an electric vehicle company called <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/goev-stock">Canoo</a>, a school bus manufacturer called <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/blbd-stock">Blue Bird Corp.</a>, and a transportation and logistics company called <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/dske-stock">Daseke</a>.Now Hennessy is looking to link up with Cupertino, California-based Plus which was founded by a group of Stanford Ph.D. candidates including David Liu, Hao Zheng, and Shawn Kerrigan in June of 2016.The self-driving truck company has raised $520 million from investors like Sequoia China, SAIC Capital, and Quanta Computer over the last five years, according to <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/plusai/company_financials">data from Crunchbase.</a>Plus focuses on using AI technology to enable large-scale autonomous commercial trucking fleets. It currently boasts some of the only fully functional Level-4 <keyword id="3366065" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="autonomous-trucks">autonomous trucks</keyword> on the market.Bloomberg reported Plus recently hired Dennis Mooney from Navistar and Chuck Joseph from Amazon to help scale production and promote the adoption of the company's tech.Plus also has a partnership with the European truckmaker Iveco SpA and is <a href="https://plus.ai/press-release/Plus-and-Cummins-Collaborate-to-Develop-the-Industry-First-Supervised-Autonomous-Trucks-Using-a-Natural-Gas-Powertrain.html">working with Cummins </a>to create autonomous technology for natural gas trucks.

Self-driving truck startup Plus is reportedly seeking to raise up to $600 million via a SPAC merger with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp V

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Amazon is reportedly buying 1,000 autonomous truck-driving systems, which could pave the way for one day ditching drivers

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Self-driving truck startup Plus is reportedly seeking to raise up to $600 million via a SPAC merger with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp V

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