Uber Eats, Serve Robotics Expanding Sidewalk Deliveries

Serve Robotics, Uber’s spinout company creating autonomous sidewalk delivery robots, is expanding its services following a successful first year of operations in Los Angeles. 

Under the expansion, Serve will bring 2,000 additional robots to streets across the U.S. in a collaboration with Uber Eats.

The Nvidia-backed startup says its roaming robots reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, while also improving efficiency and mitigating pressures from ongoing labor shortages. Serve also said its robots achieve level 4 autonomy, meaning the robots can complete all aspects of driving without human operation.  

According to Serve, since deliveries began in 2022, its robotic service has grown more than 30% month over month, with more than 200 restaurants in LA now participating.

The service is also used by 7-Eleven, which recently launched its robotic sidewalk delivery with Serve robots in LA. 

"We are thrilled to be growing our partnership with Uber," said Ali Kashani, Serve Robotics’ CEO. "This partnership is a major step towards mass commercialization of robotics for autonomous delivery."

The news comes as Uber continues its mission to introduce autonomous vehicles across operations. In April the company announced the  expansion of its robot delivery service in Virginia and last December it launched its robotaxi service alongside Motional.