Waymo will even drive for DoorDash in Phoenix

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

To start out, Waymo says that deliveries shall 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 diversity of choices.”

To be able to check out a Waymo supply, you will have to position your order by way of DoorDash and “choose in to autonomous supply” throughout checkout. As soon as Waymo’s automobile arrives, very similar to DoorDash’s Dot robot, you will then must bodily go away your house and acquire your order from the automobile’s trunk to finish the supply. A part of the comfort (and complication) of DoorDash is getting what you ordered delivered to your door. A Waymo supply may flip some folks off, because it makes that choice unimaginable.

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 might 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 seem to be variations on the identical thought.

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 might be a sign that Waymo is fascinated by pursuing deliveries on a smaller scale.