Uber Eats tests deliveries with self-driving cars and robots in Los Angeles

Autonomous-vehicle (AV) deliveries are among a number of new products Uber is launching across its platforms, the company announced at its Global Product Event on Monday.

This marks the first time the ride-hailing giant is partnering with AV fleet providers, having previously acquired a 26% stake in another self-driving tech company, Aurora.

Both pilots will launch on a small scale and will deliver food only from a few merchants. “We’ll be able to learn from both of those pilots what customers actually want, what merchants actually want, and what makes sense for delivery as we start to integrate our platform with AV companies. The hope is that they’re successful and that we learn over the coming months, and then figure out how to scale,” an Uber spokesperson told Techcrunch.

Uber will include the cost of food while charging customers for deliveries from both its partners, though in Motion’s case it’s not clear how it will do so. That’s because deliveries using autonomous vehicles in California require a special permit from the Department of Motor Vehicles. There’s no law restricting companies from charging for deliveries made by sidewalk robots, so Serve is in the clear, the report said.

In India,
Uber sold its Eats business to Zomato in January 2020. It received a 9.99% stake in

in return, allowing it to remain in the country’s food delivery market, albeit indirectly. Despite having an established ride-hailing business in India, Uber Eats never took off here since food delivery is done on motorcycles, while Uber rides are provided mostly by cars.

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