DoorDash to use Serve Robotics’ sidewalk robots for deliveries in Los Angeles

DoorDash customers successful Los Angeles mightiness soon person their nutrient brought to them by 1 of Serve Robotics’ sidewalk transportation bots. The 2 companies connected Thursday announced a multi-year partnership that would spot them utilizing autonomous robots to marque deliveries crossed the U.S.  

The tie-up comes a week aft DoorDash unveiled Dot, an autonomous nutrient transportation bot built by the institution that’s first being deployed in the Phoenix area. Unlike Serve’s bots, which mainly operate on sidewalks, Dot tin ferry nutrient and tiny packages connected roads, motorcycle lanes and sidewalks astatine speeds up to 20 miles per hour.  

Serve is the latest successful a drawstring of emerging tech partnerships for DoorDash, which has joined hands with companies similar sidewalk bot startup Coco and drone startup Wing. According to Ashu Rege, VP of autonomy astatine DoorDash Labs, the company’s robotics and automation division, it’s all portion of a broader program to become a level for multimodal deliveries.  

DoorDash isn’t the archetypal app institution to ply specified avenues. Uber has been striking partnerships with autonomous conveyance companies crossed its ride-hail, transportation and freight businesses, and Serve is one of those companies. Similar to however gig workers operate, Serve’s bots volition enactment with some Uber and DoorDash simultaneously.  

But DoorDash is doing thing antithetic here: it’s throwing its ain chapeau successful the ring. 

Other companies have attempted this strategy, too. Uber and Lyft some tried and failed to operate both the exertion stack and platform for autonomous ride-hailing. And AV startup Nuro started retired with a similar conveyance to Dot earlier it realized that manufacturing is a capital sinkhole.

All 3 companies took the scenic way to recognize that it’s more cost-effective to absorption connected their halfway exertion and offerings.  

Rege thinks DoorDash volition beryllium different. The institution plans to manufacture Dot astatine scale, but Rege declined to supply circumstantial details. DoorDash had its first profitable twelvemonth in 2024, and reported record profits in the archetypal fractional of 2025, acknowledgment to a 20% summation successful transportation volumes compared to a twelvemonth earlier. He argues that the company needs more ways to marque deliveries if it’s going to proceed serving its increasing lawsuit base.  

Moreover, Rege thinks Dot brings thing to the array that different signifier factors don’t. “We felt determination was a gap. On the 1 end, you person sidewalk robots, and connected the different manus robotaxis, which are large for moving people, but they bash not code the transportation occupation of that past 10 feet,” helium said. “A burrito is not going to walk itself to your door. And for merchants, they don’t want to […] spell find this robot that’s parked fractional a artifact away.” 

While sidewalk robots whitethorn enactment good successful dense municipality environments, Rege said Dot volition capable the gap successful “dense suburban deliveries” within a scope of three to 5 miles. Dot’s quality to traverse the roads and sidewalks is “a truly cardinal part,” he said.

Of course, a idiosyncratic tin bash each of this with ease, but DoorDash says it plans to reserve its quality workforce for much “complex” restaurant, retail oregon market trips.