Uber Eats has expanded its partnership with Waymo — the autonomous vehicle division of Google parent company Alphabet — adding driverless food deliveries in the Phoenix-area cities of Tempe, Mesa and Chandler, Ariz. The companies are working with a select group of merchants that include local favorites like Princess Pita, Filiberto’s and BoSa Donuts.
Customers using the Uber Eats app will be alerted that “autonomous vehicles may deliver your order,” and they will be given the opportunity to opt out at checkout if they prefer to have a human driver. When the autonomous vehicle arrives, customers will receive an in-app notification to use their phone to unlock the vehicle and collect their order.
“The addition of food delivery to Uber’s ongoing partnership with Waymo reflects both companies’ mission to encourage zero-emission trips and unlock greater innovation for consumers and merchants in Phoenix and beyond,” wrote Noah Zych, Global General Manager for Autonomous Mobility and Delivery at Uber Eats in a blog post.
This is just the latest effort by Uber Eats to expand autonomous deliveries. The company began offering robotic sidewalk food deliveries in Fairfax, Va.’s Mosaic District in April 2023 following a December 2022 pilot in Miami.
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Other customer-facing autonomous delivery developments have been airborne: Walmart expanded drone deliveries to 30 municipalities in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex in January 2024, and Uber Eats competitor DoorDash debuted drone deliveries in Christiansburg, Va. in March alongside another Alphabet company, Wing.
