Waymo can even drive for DoorDash i...

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

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

With a purpose to check out a Waymo supply, you may have to position your order by DoorDash and “decide in to autonomous supply” throughout checkout. As soon as Waymo’s automotive arrives, very similar to DoorDash’s Dot robot, you may then should bodily depart your own home and acquire 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 would possibly flip some folks off, because it makes that possibility inconceivable.

After all, 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 comparable 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 third-party companions like Uber. Its partnerships with Uber Eats and DoorDash seem to be 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 thinking about pursuing deliveries on a smaller scale.