

“There’s a huge demand for delivery to people’s homes. But it’s getting a big assist from the shortage of people willing to take gig-delivery work for the money offered.īusiness Waymo sues state DMV to keep robotaxi safety details secretĪ court may decide whether Waymo’s business interests outweigh the public’s right to understand the safety issues around self-driving cars This off-road race to compete with Uber Eats, DoorDash and other delivery companies that rely on gig workers is hindered by currently available self-driving technology, not to mention gaping sidewalk cracks. A recent partnership with Segway is promising to unleash thousands of the pink vehicles in multiple cities.Īnother California startup, Kiwibot, also employs remote vehicle operators, while San Francisco-based Starship Technologies has designed its sidewalk delivery bots to mosey along on their own but with employees tracking every move via computer screen and grabbing control when needed.

For Subscribers Kicks, pranks, dog pee: The hard life of food delivery robotsĪs sidewalk bots proliferate, they turn on the charm - flashing cute eyes, emoji hearts - to keep safe and get deliveries to their intended destinations.Ĭalifornia has become a proving ground for several sidewalk delivery robot startups like Coco, which was born two years ago in the living room of UCLA alumni Zach Rash and Brad Squicciarini, both now 24 and riding a pandemic-related desire for contact-free delivery.
