Austin firm's robots now delivering Uber Eats
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A delivery robot crosses the street in front of the Texas Capitol. Photo: Courtesy of Avride
If you live or work in downtown Austin and order a meal through Uber Eats, you might now get it from an Austin-born robot.
Why it matters: The area is part of a testbed for a partnership between the rideshare behemoth and Avride, an Austin-based autonomous vehicle startup.
Driving the news: Starting this week, Avride's sidewalk robots are operating from Cesar Chavez Street north to 15th Street, and from I-35 west to West Avenue.
How it works: When using Uber Eats, you might see a notice — "autonomous vehicles may deliver your order" — listed on the restaurant's Uber Eats storefront if the merchant is participating in the rollout.
- Mai Thai and Maiko Sushi are already involved.
The intrigue: Before an Avride robot is dispatched, customers will be given the option to decline the delivery robot and to have their order delivered by a courier.
- Any tips added for deliveries made by robot will not be charged, per the companies.
Zoom out: Deliverable food has become a hotly contested space as small wheeled robots and driverless cars team up to supplant the pizza delivery guy.
- In recent years, delivery robots from Coco and Refraction AI have been used in Austin to transport everything from Clay Pit curries to Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
- Starting last December, Avride itself began making deliveries in the Mueller area.
What they're saying: "We cannot as a small business afford to have staff and insurance to do our deliveries, and utilizing the robots is wonderful," Ashley Fric, owner of the restaurant Colleen's Kitchen, told KXAN this year about why the robots are so useful. "It is more profitable."
💠Texas Editor Chloe's thought bubble: I've successfully ordered food from Xian Sushi and Noodle directly through Avride in Mueller a couple of times, pre-Uber Eats partnership, simply because they're adorable.
- It's also pretty cute (albeit time-consuming) to watch them recalibrate when they meet an obstacle like an overgrown bush along the sidewalk.
What's next: The delivery partnership is slated to expand to Dallas and Jersey City, New Jersey, later this year.
- "We plan to expand the total fleet of Avride robots operating within Uber Eats to hundreds in 2025, followed by the launch of our robotaxi service," Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride, said last month.