Waymo may even drive for DoorDash in Phoenix

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 possibly can 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 start out, Waymo says that deliveries will probably be restricted to issues you’ll be able to order by means 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.”

To be able to check out a Waymo supply, you may have to put your order by means of DoorDash and “decide in to autonomous supply” throughout checkout. As soon as Waymo’s automotive arrives, very like DoorDash’s Dot robot, you may then must bodily depart your own 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 delivered to 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 might be ordered from. Waymo runs its personal robotaxi service in Arizona, Waymo One, however relying on the area, it is also supplied rides by means 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 exams with DoorDash and Uber Eats might be a sign that Waymo is excited by pursuing deliveries on a smaller scale.