Now you can get your take-out food delivered to your home by robot.
Waymo and Uber Eats are partnering to begin food delivery by autonomous vehicles, which leaders of the companies hope will give more people a chance to interact with an autonomous vehicle.
Waymo and Uber have already partnered on the rideshare platform, Uber customers can get paired with an autonomous vehicle for a ride if they are in Waymo’s Phoenix service area.
Beginning Wednesday, select restaurants on the Uber Eats platform in Tempe, Mesa and Chandler will offer customers the option to have their orders delivered in an autonomous Waymo vehicle. Restaurants that are participating in the launch include Princess Pita, Filiberto’s and Bosa Donuts, but representatives from Uber and Waymo said the list will grow as more restaurants are added to the program.
The program is starting with a small group of restaurants, but Uber officials said they expect the list to be over 10 restaurants in the next few weeks.
Noah Zych, global head of autonomous mobility and delivery for Uber, said the first restaurants were chosen because they would be a good fit, with many deliveries within the Waymo service area. Both the restaurant and the delivery location must be in the Waymo service area for the delivery to be done by an autonomous vehicle.
Customers will be able to opt out of having an autonomous vehicle deliver their food. Zych said he expects customers might make that decision on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes they want the convenience of the food being delivered straight to their doorstep, and sometimes they won’t mind getting the food from the vehicle.
If a customer places a tip for the driver before the order is complete, and the order is then paired with an autonomous vehicle, the tip will not be charged, he said.
Augmenting the network, not replacing human drivers
Zych said Uber Eats’ network will operate well with both human drivers and autonomous drivers working concurrently.
“Earners are the life of our business, both for rideshare and delivery,” Zych said. “We want good earning opportunities for our drivers. We want to be clear that the goal is not to automate away from earners’ jobs.”
Any customer receiving an order delivered by a Waymo vehicle will be given instructions to open the trunk and retrieve the order when the car arrives.
Nicole Gavel, the head of business development and strategic partnerships for Waymo, said the partnership gives more people an opportunity to experience the Waymo Driver. The move can also increase efficiency by allowing Waymo to string together more trips.
“We have always envisioned multiple uses for the Waymo Driver,” she said. “This is exciting and shows the broad benefits.”
Waymo has not shared a specific number of vehicles operating in Phoenix, but Gavel said Waymo plans to add more vehicles to support food delivery.
Rideshare partnership still in place
Users of Uber’s rideshare platform can also be paired with a Waymo vehicle if they are going to and from locations within the service area.
Zych said there is no way to guarantee an Uber user will get paired with a Waymo, but users can update their preferences in the app to increase the likelihood. Customers can also decline to match with a Waymo if they do not want to ride in an autonomous vehicle.
“We want to make sure that first trip is magical,” Zych said of being paired with an autonomous vehicle.
For riders who want to ensure they get an autonomous vehicle, they can book their ride directly through the Waymo One app, which is available in the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Uber Eats, Waymo partner for food delivery in self-driving cars
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