"Serve Robotics is trying to get as many businesses as possible to use its cooler-shaped delivery robots - even if it means teaming up with an apparent rival. The autonomous delivery company'slatest partner is DoorDash, which is also developing its own delivery robots. On Thursday, the companies said Serve's robots would start making deliveries for DoorDash in Los Angeles, a city where Serve already works with Uber Eats."
"Serve, which was spun out of Uber-owned Postmates in 2021, operates delivery robots in five cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami. Working with DoorDash, which unveiled its own delivery robot last month, might seem counterintuitive. But Ali Kashani, Serve's CEO, said that DoorDash's Dot is more complementary than threatening to his company. Right now, he said, there are far more deliveries than robots that can make them, and different robots will be best for different circumstances."
""We are all going to try different approaches and see which one of them makes the most sense," Kashani told Business Insider in an interview.. The goal is to make delivery robots more like ride-hailing drivers, who switch between working for Uber and Lyft depending on where they can pick up work. "We want to be a shared platform," Kashani said. "We want to be an infrastructure that everybody can use." Shares of Serve were trading 26% higher on Thursday after the announcement."
Serve Robotics will make deliveries for DoorDash in Los Angeles starting Thursday, with plans to expand the partnership across the US. Serve already operates robots in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami and was spun out of Postmates in 2021. The company also works with Uber Eats, 7-Eleven, and Shake Shack. CEO Ali Kashani said DoorDash's Dot is complementary, noting there are far more deliveries than available robots and different robot designs suit different situations. Serve aims to function as a shared infrastructure platform for multiple delivery services. Shares rose 26% after the announcement.
Read at Business Insider
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