Waymo will even drive for DoorDash in Phoenix

Waymo has announced a brand new partnership with DoorDash that can make the corporate’s self-driving vehicles a supply possibility for customers in Phoenix, Arizona. You may already hail a ride in Waymo’s Arizona service space, however this new partnership will give the corporate’s vehicles one thing to do once they’re not transporting human cargo.

To begin, Waymo says that deliveries can be restricted to issues you may order by way of DashMart, DoorDash’s storefront for comfort and grocery shops. Finally, although, deliveries will “embody extra native Phoenix retailers and a greater variety of choices.”

So as to check out a Waymo supply, you may have to position your order by way of DoorDash and “choose in to autonomous supply” throughout checkout. As soon as Waymo’s automotive arrives, very like DoorDash’s Dot robot, you may then need to bodily go away your private home and accumulate your order from the automotive’s trunk to finish the supply. A part of the comfort (and complication) of DoorDash is getting what you ordered dropped at your door. A Waymo supply may flip some folks off, because it makes that possibility not possible.

In fact, this is not the primary time Waymo has delivered meals in Phoenix. In 2024 the corporate partnered with Uber Eats for the same program, with related limitations round how deliveries had been accomplished and the place meals could possibly be ordered from. Waymo runs its personal robotaxi service in Arizona, Waymo One, however relying on the area, it is also provided rides by way of third-party companions like Uber. Its partnerships with Uber Eats and DoorDash look like variations on the identical concept.

In 2020, Waymo was exploring utilizing self-driving long-haul trucks for deliveries. The corporate abandoned those plans in 2023 to prioritize robotaxis and the Waymo Driver software program, however these assessments with DoorDash and Uber Eats could possibly be a sign that Waymo is curious about pursuing deliveries on a smaller scale.