Waymo Dips Its Wheels Back Into Delivery, This Time With Doordash

The sprawling metropolis of Phoenix continues to beryllium a testbed for Waymo, and not conscionable connected nan method front. The Alphabet-owned institution has utilized its first testing and commercialized marketplace to research pinch its business model, too, including delivery.

Waymo is known for its robotaxis, but it has tested really its tech could beryllium utilized for delivery. The institution antecedently tapped UPS and Uber Eats for aviator programs, and it besides put sizeable unit and resources towards processing self-driving trucks nether its Waymo Via arm, earlier shuttering that programme successful 2023 to attraction connected robotaxis.

Now, it seems Waymo is fresh to trial nan transportation waters done a strategic, multi-year business pinch DoorDash. Waymo doesn’t person immoderate different progressive delivery-focused testing, operations, aliases partnerships, according to a institution spokesperson.

The business will lucifer DoorDash customers ordering nutrient and groceries wrong a 315-square-mile area of Phoenix pinch a self-driving Waymo, nan institution wrote successful a blog post.

Not each DoorDash bid will consequence successful a Waymo delivery. Initially, nan Waymo transportation work will present orders from DashMart — DoorDash’s convenience, grocery, and unit stores. The companies said that, complete time, much section Phoenix merchants and a wider assortment of offerings will beryllium added.

David Richter, Vice President of Business and Corporate Development astatine DoorDash, said nan woody pinch Waymo will springiness customers a “new and delightful experience, while advancing our imagination for a multi-modal autonomous
future of section commerce.”

DoorDash isn’t caller to nan autonomous conveyance exertion arena. The institution has partnered pinch sidewalk transportation bot company Serve Robotics to screen parts of Los Angeles. It besides has its ain in-house autonomous conveyance tech squad that developed and produced an autonomous transportation bot called Dot. The transportation bot, which was revealed successful September, is being tested successful nan Phoenix area.

The woody pinch Waymo won’t impact DoorDash’s Dot vehicle, however. Instead, nutrient aliases groceries will beryllium placed successful nan trunk of a Waymo conveyance — a driverless Jaguar I-Pace that will navigate connected its ain to nan customer. From here, nan customer will person to retrieve nan items from nan trunk via nan DoorDash app.

This past step, which requires nan customer to locomotion retired to nan car and drawback nan delivered items, will beryllium nan large trial for some companies, hoping to find if receiving groceries delivered by an autonomous conveyance outweighs nan convenience of a quality handing complete nan items astatine their door.