By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press

HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) — 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. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also vying to join the autonomous race.

The 220,000-square-foot robotaxi factory announced Wednesday heralds a new phase in Amazon’s push into a technological frontier that began taking shape in 2009, when Waymo was launched as a secret project within Google.

Amazon began eyeing the market five years ago when it shelled out $1.2 billion for self-driving startup Zoox, which will be the brand behind a robotaxi service that plans to begin transporting customers in Las Vegas late this year before expanding into San Francisco next year.

In this undated handout photo provided by Zoox, Zoox robotaxis are assembled at a 220,000-square-foot factory located in Hayward, California. (Zoox via AP)

Zoox, conceived in 2014, will be trying to catch up to Waymo, which began operating robotaxis in Phoenix nearly five years ago then charging for rides in San Francisco in 2023 before expanding into Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Waymo says it has already more than 10 million paid rides while other would-be rivals such as Amazon and Tesla are still fine-tuning their self-driving technology while tackling other challenges, such how to ramp up their fleet.

Amazon feels like it has addressed that issue with Zoox’s manufacturing plant that spans across the equivalent of three-and-a-half football fields located in Hayward, California — about 17 miles (27 kilometers) north of a factory where Tesla makes some of the electric vehicles that Musk believes will eventually be able to operate without a driver behind the wheel.

Since moving into the former bus manufacturing factory in 2023, Zoox has transformed it into a high-tech facility where its boxy, gondola-like vehicles are put together and tested along a 21-station assembly line. For now, Zoox is only making one robotaxi per day, but by next year hopes to be churning them out at the rate of three vehicles per hour.

In this undated handout photo provided by Zoox, Zoox robotaxis are assembled at a 220,000-square-foot factory located in Hayward, California. (Zoox via AP)

By 2027, Zoox hopes to making 10,000 robotaxis annually in Hayward for a fleet that it hopes to take into other major markets, including Miami, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Although Zoox will be assembling its robotaxis in the U.S., about half of the parts are imported from outside the country, according to company officials. Waymo is also planning to expand into Atlanta and Miami and on Wednesday took the first step toward bringing its robotaxis in the most populous U.S. city with the disclosure of an application to begin testing its vehicles in New York.

“It’s an exciting time to be heading on this journey,” Zoox CEO Aicha Evans said during a Tuesday tour of the robotaxi factory that she co-hosted with Jesse Levinson, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer.

Although Zoox will be lagging well behind, it believes it can lure passengers with vehicles that look more like carriages that cars with seating for up to four passengers. Waymo, in contrast, builds its self-driving technology on to cars made by other major automakers, making its robotaxi look similar to vehicles steered by humans. Zoox isn’t even bothering to put a steering wheel in its robotaxis.

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As it continues to test its robotaxis in Las Vegas, Zoox recently struck a partnership to give rides to guests of Reorts World. It’s also still testing its robotaxis in San Francisco, where Waymo already has turned driverless cars into an everyday site in a city that has been renowned for cable cars since the 1870s. While testing in San Francisco last month, a minor collision between a Zoox robotaxi and a person riding an electric scooter last month prompted the company to issue a voluntary recall to update its self-driving technology. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Tesla is still angling to compete against Waymo too, although it remains unclear when Musk will fuflil his long-running promise to build the world’s largest robotaxi service. Musk still hasn’t given up on the goal, though his current ambitions are more modest than they were in 2019. when he predicted Tesla would be running a fleet of 1 million robotaxis by now. He is currently aiming for a limited rollout of Tesla robotaxis in Austin this Sunday, although that date could change because Musk is “being super paranoid about safety.”

Zoox, in contrast, is planning to operate 500 to 1,000 of its robotaxis in small to medium-sized markets and about 2,000 robotaxis in major cities where it eventually operates, according to Evans. The company thinks each robotaxi produced in its Hayward plan should be on the road for about five years, or about 500,000 miles

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and ALEXA ST. JOHN, Associated Press

A federal judge in Massachusetts said Wednesday he plans to deny a motion by the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit over its blocking of wind energy projects, siding with a coalition of state attorneys general.

Led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C. are suing in federal court to challenge President Donald Trump’s Day One executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.

Judge William G. Young said during a hearing that he plans to allow the case to proceed against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, but will dismiss the action against Trump and cabinet secretaries other than Burgum named as defendants.

He said he thinks states do have standing to sue, which the federal government had argued against. The states can proceed with claims that blocking permits for wind energy projects violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which outlines a detailed process for enacting regulations, but not the Constitution, Young said.

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Young said his rulings from the bench were tentative and reserved the right to alter them in writing his formal opinion.

The coalition of attorneys general sued to ask that a judge declare the executive order unlawful and approve an injunction to stop federal agencies from implementing it. They argued that Trump doesn’t have the authority to halt project permitting and doing so jeopardizes the states’ economies, energy mix, public health and climate goals.

The government is arguing that the states’ claims amount to nothing more than a policy disagreement over preferences for wind versus fossil fuel energy development that is outside the bounds of the federal court’s jurisdiction. Department of Justice Attorney Michael Robertson said in court that the wind order paused permitting, but didn’t halt it, while the Interior secretary reviews the environmental impact and that this effort is underway. He said states have not shown that they were harmed by a specific permit not being issued.

Turner Smith, from the Massachusetts attorney general’s office, countered that the government has provided no end date and that Trump’s order imposes a “categorical and indefinite halt.” She said states have been harmed and pointed to a offshore wind project for Massachusetts, now pushed back by two years because its three outstanding permits are delayed due to the wind order. She said Massachusetts can’t meet its targets for procuring offshore wind energy without the SouthCoast wind project.

Wind is the U.S.’ largest source of renewable energy, providing about 10% of the electricity generated in the nation, according to the American Clean Power Association.

Trump prioritizes fossil fuels and said last week that his administration would not approve wind energy projects except in cases of emergency. The administration had ordered a Norwegian company, Equinor, to halt construction on a fully permitted offshore wind project in New York, though Equinor has been allowed to resume work.

The coalition includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and Washington, D.C.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 12½ years in prison for shooting an assault rifle at a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy during a pursuit in March 2024 on St. Paul’s East Side.

Trevion Armand Figgs, 21, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in April. As part of the plea agreement, Hennepin County Judge Jean Burdoff handed down a 12½-year prison term at sentencing Tuesday and dismissed the remaining charges: first-degree assault of a peace officer and drive-by shooting. Figgs was given credit for 462 days already served in custody.

Trevion Armand Figgs (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Figgs fired at least three bullets from an assault rifle at Deputy Joe Kill, who was struck with shrapnel near his right collar bone. Kill was transported to Regions Hospital for minor injuries and left work for about a month to physically recover from the incident. A specialist determined his ribs had been displaced.

According to the criminal complaint, St. Paul police officers saw a person who was later identified as a 17-year-old driving a Honda Accord recklessly at Payne Avenue and Jessamine Street around 10:45 p.m. March 1, 2024. When officers tried to pull him over, he sped away.

Shortly after, Kill saw the Accord and noticed two people were in it. When the 17-year-old ran a red light at Payne Avenue and Seventh Street, Kill turned on his emergency lights and siren and began pursuing the vehicle.

As the Accord headed east on Euclid Street, the front-seat passenger, who wore a face mask and was later identified as Figgs, leaned out of the car, sat on the door frame and fired a tan-colored assault rifle at the deputy, who was 25 to 30 yards behind.

Kill swerved his squad to the left, stopped in the 900 block of Euclid Street and took cover under the driver compartment. Kill thought three shots were fired at him.

Two bullet fragments were recovered from the front floor of the deputy’s squad car. His ballistic vest showed a scuff mark on its upper right consistent with being struck by an object.

Surveillance audio from the neighborhood recorded approximately “three to five gunshot-like noises,” the complaint says. Officers found two .223-caliber rifle casings in the middle of Euclid Street.

Officers searched the area and found the Accord unoccupied and parked in an alley in the 1000 block of Pacific Street. Surveillance video showed the car in the alley around 10:50 p.m., then two people running east.

A search of the car turned up two more spent .223-caliber rifle casings. Paperwork showed the teen driver was in the process of buying the car.

Further investigation showed a close relationship between the teen and Figgs, whose house is in the area where the car was found.

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Investigators then received information from Figgs’ Snapchat account. It showed that an account associated with the teen sent Figgs a photo of Figgs wearing a black face mask and holding a tan assault rifle consistent with the one described by the deputy.

Officers executed a search warrant at Figgs’ home and arrested him. In an upper bedroom, officers recovered a tan AR-style rifle stock, a Polymer 80 handgun, a debit card in the teen’s name and loose .223- and 9mm-caliber ammunition.

In December 2024, the teen driver was adjudicated delinquent — the juvenile version of being found guilty — of aiding and abetting first-degree assault of a peace officer. He was placed on extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution under the condition that he complete a long-term treatment program at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Red Wing. An adult sentence of just over seven years was stayed pending completion of the juvenile term, which ends when he turns 21.

Move over, Horace: It’s Frederick’s turn to make a stink.

Frederick, the “sibling” of last year’s corpse flower sensation at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park in St. Paul, is expected to bloom imminently (perhaps this weekend). With that bloom comes the rare and large tropical plant’s signature stink.

Just like last year, the corpse flower’s unfolding is expected to be a brief event — perhaps 24 to 48 hours — but the public will soon be able to watch the “Corpse Cam” if they aren’t able to visit Frederick. The public can tune in and get updates at comozooconservatory.org/frederick.

If this is a competition, as it often is with siblings, this could be a bigger year than last.

“It’s been interesting to see that Frederick is growing larger,” said Jen Love, the horticulturist who tends to both Horace and Frederick. “I’m not totally surprised, because the tuber weighed more.”

(Tubers, Love says, are akin to underground storage systems from which the blooms emerge.)

To put it in perspective: Frederick weighed 58 pounds the last time the plant was repotted, compared to Horace’s 40 pounds shortly before blooming.

It should make for a bigger show.

“Frederick is taller, which is great,” Love says. “Other than that, I expect them to have a lot of similarities. It still won’t be a record breaker by any means — it’s not uncommon for these blooms to be nine feet tall.”

Just how tall is Fred?

“This morning, it measured 68 inches,” Love said on Tuesday. “And it will keep growing until it’s ready to bloom. We will start measuring it daily now and as we see that growth rate really slow down, we’ll be able to narrow in on our prediction. So right now, we are predicting Thursday, but that is just an approximate guess.”

Fredrick and Horace’s roots

Guests gather around the corpse flower “Frederick” in the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park in St. Paul on Tuesday. (Kathryn Kovalenko / Pioneer Press)

Frederick and Horace are true siblings, sharing the same parents. Started from seed in 2017 at the Greater Des Moines Botanic Garden, they were donated soon after to the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory.

(Later, the conservatory paid it forward, sending one tuber to the San Diego Botanic Garden and two to the Center for Conservation and Research at San Antonio Zoo.)

Horace was named after Horace Cleveland, described by the conservatory as “a key figure in shaping the St. Paul park system in the late 1800s.” This Horace bloomed for the first time in 2024 at the age of seven.

Frederick is named after Frederick Nussbaumer, who became the city’s parks superintendent in 1891, the conservatory says, “following four years as a gardener right here at Como Park.” While his brother rests this growing season, Frederick is preparing for his first bloom at age eight.

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Just like other corpse flowers, these tropical titans that typically only bloom every two or three years are a spectacle that draws in visitors.

“It’s the novelty, because it doesn’t bloom very frequently,” says Love. “Most people aren’t going to get to travel to Sumatra, so you’re not going to get to see one in the wild. And then it’s the size and the smell. It is the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.”

To a casual observer, the corpse flower looks like an ear of corn emerging from some leaves of lettuce. And the stink? That depends on your nose.

“It is really bad,” Love says. “I think it’s kind of a combination of rotting trash on a hot day and a dead mouse.”

There’s a purpose behind the smell, though.

“It’s a strategy the plant has for attracting the beetles, the flies — the things that would be attracted to a carcass are the insects that pollinate it,” Love says.

Frederick’s receiving line

In 2024, more than 30,000 visitors lined up to meet Horace within the conservatory, which is located within Como Park at 1225 Estabrook Drive.

Guests photograph “Horace,” a Corpse Flower beginning to bloom at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park in St. Paul on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Derek Bourcy / Special to the Pioneer Press)

This year, Frederick is situated in the Palm Dome, a spot in the conservatory that better accommodates the expected lines, a place not impacted by early closures due to private events.

On their way to the Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden on Tuesday, Kay Loeffler and her son, Isaac, paused to check out the informational displays about corpse flowers set up around Fred, who at that moment looked like a large but unassuming potted plant (and was not stinky yet).

“My only reference to the corpse flower is from the movie, ‘Dennis the Menace,’” said Loeffler with a laugh. “That’s the big thing, that it’s about to bloom, and Dennis ruins it for him.”

Frederick is behind ropes, and hopefully safe from any interrupting menaces.

The public, though, should be prepared to wait in a line outside: an umbrella for shade or rain and a water bottle would be a good idea, a spokesman said.

While admission to the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is free, voluntary donations of $4 for adults and $2 for children are welcome. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, but the public can visit Frederick until 8 p.m. on Wednesday (June 18) due to a concert.

Endangered

A corpse flower in bloom is shown at the California Academy of Sciences’ Osher Rainforest in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

About 9,500 miles away from St. Paul, in the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum, grows wild. Or doesn’t.

“I like to touch on some conservation messaging about it,” Love says of the corpse flower. “If you’re familiar with the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), it’s the organization that tracks species and their status in the wild. So its IUCN status is endangered. There are definitely fewer than 1,000 individuals left in the wild. The number that was actually tracked last count was only around 300.

“So even though botanical gardens have had a lot of success growing them so that we can share the information and keep the genetics going, we do really want people to understand that deforestation in Sumatra has really decimated their habitat.

“One of the key reasons the Sumatran rainforest is being deforested is to build or to plant more palm oil plantations,” she says. “Palm oil is in a lot of foods that we eat.”

It’s also used in other everyday products, including lipstick, chocolate and detergent, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

So what can we do?

“There’s actually an app I’d like people to use,” Love recommends. “It’s called PalmOil Scan and you can use it to help you choose products that use sustainable palm oil so that you can be more conscious of what’s happening in the habitat of Sumatra.”

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PalmOil Scan, according to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, is produced in collaboration with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. While the app’s messaging focuses on orangutans, Love says, the sustainability also applies to helping out corpse flowers.

Of course, the public can also support the corpse flower by visiting Como Park Zoo & Conservatory. Love saw that support happen last year.

“Honestly, it generated a lot more traffic than I thought it would,” Love says of the excitement over Horace. “But I know that people do get really interested in them. And a lot of botanic gardens see people turn out time after time, every time they bloom. And that’s one of the reasons we grow them — it’s a great way to get people excited about plants. And anything that gets people excited about plants is a good thing to grow.”