DoorDash is still ironing out Dot delivery robot kinks, from charging to pickups
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu stated that the company's 'Dot' delivery robot is not yet ready for wide-scale deployment due to operational challenges. Issues include difficulties with loading, navigating gated communities, and interacting with building staff.
Why it matters
The struggle to scale autonomous delivery highlights the significant gap between testing prototypes and achieving viable, automated last-mile logistics.
DoorDash unveiled its Dot delivery robot last September. Bloomberg/Getty Images DoorDash still has problems to solve before broadly using its autonomous delivery robot. Issues like loading the robots and tricky deliveries remain, CEO Tony Xu said. DoorDash is paying some delivery workers to manually load its robots, Business Insider reported. DoorDash's delivery robot isn't quite ready for prime time. The delivery service has spent the last several months testing its Dot delivery robot as it makes deliveries in parts of Phoenix, Arizona. And while the company is working on securing permits for Dot to expand to other cities, there's still a lot that the company needs to figure out before it expands the autonomous delivery option, CEO Tony Xu said on a second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. "I'm a big believer that you really have to nail something before you scale it," Xu said.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in