Phoenix, with its vast urban landscape, remains a prime location for Waymo’s ongoing trials—not only for advancing its technology, but also for exploring new business strategies, such as delivery services.
While Waymo is primarily recognized for its autonomous taxi service, the company has also explored delivery applications for its technology. In the past, Waymo collaborated with UPS and Uber Eats on pilot projects, and invested heavily in developing self-driving trucks through its Waymo Via division. However, that initiative was discontinued in 2023 so the company could concentrate on its robotaxi operations.
Waymo now appears poised to re-enter the delivery sector through a strategic, multi-year collaboration with DoorDash. According to a company representative, Waymo currently has no other ongoing delivery-focused pilots, operations, or partnerships.
Through this partnership, DoorDash users ordering meals or groceries within a 315-square-mile region of Phoenix will be matched with a Waymo autonomous vehicle, as detailed in a company blog post.
Not all DoorDash orders will be delivered by Waymo vehicles at first. Initially, the service will focus on deliveries from DashMart, DoorDash’s network of convenience, grocery, and retail outlets. Both companies indicated that, in the future, more local businesses and a broader range of products will be included.
David Richter, DoorDash’s Vice President of Business and Corporate Development, stated that the partnership with Waymo will offer customers “an innovative and enjoyable experience, while moving us closer to our vision of a multi-modal autonomous future for local commerce.”
DoorDash already has experience with autonomous vehicle technology. The company has teamed up with Serve Robotics, which operates sidewalk delivery robots in parts of Los Angeles. DoorDash also has its own internal team that created an autonomous delivery robot called Dot, which began testing in the Phoenix area after its unveiling in September.
However, DoorDash’s Dot robot will not be part of the Waymo partnership. Instead, orders will be placed in the trunk of a driverless Waymo Jaguar I-Pace, which will autonomously transport the goods to the customer. Customers will then use the DoorDash app to access and collect their items from the vehicle’s trunk.
This final step—requiring customers to go outside and retrieve their orders from the car—will serve as a key experiment for both companies, as they assess whether the benefits of autonomous delivery outweigh the convenience of traditional doorstep handoffs by human couriers.
