Waymo, the Alphabet-owned autonomous driving company, has launched a multi-year partnership with DoorDash to test self-driving delivery services in Phoenix, extending its technology beyond robotaxis and back into the logistics space.
The pilot program will allow DoorDash customers ordering food or groceries within a 315-square-mile area of Phoenix to have their items delivered by a Waymo self-driving Jaguar I-Pace, the company said in a blog post. The vehicles will operate without human drivers, and customers will retrieve their orders directly from the car’s trunk via the DoorDash app.
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Initially, deliveries will be limited to DashMart, DoorDash’s chain of convenience, grocery, and retail stores, with plans to add more local merchants and expand offerings over time. A Waymo spokesperson said the company has no other active delivery partnerships, highlighting Phoenix as its primary testing ground for commercial and operational innovation.
The collaboration follows Waymo’s previous experiments with delivery, including pilot programs with UPS and Uber Eats, and its former Waymo Via trucking unit, which was discontinued in 2023 to prioritize robotaxi operations. Phoenix has long served as Waymo’s main testing hub, where the company continues to refine both its autonomous technology and its business model.
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For DoorDash, the partnership adds to its growing portfolio of autonomous delivery initiatives. The company already works with Serve Robotics for sidewalk deliveries in Los Angeles and has developed its own in-house robot, Dot, which is being tested in Phoenix. The Dot bot is not part of the Waymo partnership, however.
According to David Richter, DoorDash’s Vice President of Business and Corporate Development, the collaboration aims to offer customers a “new and delightful experience” while advancing the company’s “vision for a multi-modal autonomous future of local commerce.”
The partnership will test whether customers are willing to trade doorstep delivery convenience for the novelty and efficiency of autonomous service — a key question for both companies as they explore the commercial potential of self-driving logistics.