Waymo can 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 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 vehicles one thing to do after they’re not transporting human cargo.

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

In an effort to check out a Waymo supply, you may have to position your order via DoorDash and “decide in to autonomous supply” throughout checkout. As soon as Waymo’s automobile arrives, very like DoorDash’s Dot robot, you may then must bodily depart your property 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 would possibly flip some individuals off, because it makes that choice unattainable.

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 comparable limitations round how deliveries have been accomplished and the place meals may very well be ordered from. Waymo runs its personal robotaxi service in Arizona, Waymo One, however relying on the area, it is also supplied rides via 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 exams with DoorDash and Uber Eats may very well be a sign that Waymo is inquisitive about pursuing deliveries on a smaller scale.