Residents of Southern California could soon have their food order delivered by a robot.
According to CNN,Uber Eats will begin using robotic deliveries in the Los Angeles area as a test. Customers will be given instructions on how to retrieve the items from the robot.
The company previously announced a partnership with Motional to launch autonomous deliveries in the Santa Monica area.
“We’re proud that our first delivery partner is Uber and are eager to begin using our trusted driverless technology to offer efficient and convenient deliveries to customers in California,” said Karl Iagnemma, Motional’s President and CEO. “We’re confident this will be a successful collaboration with Uber and see many long-term opportunities for further deploying Motional’s technology across the Uber platform.”
The companies said they see autonomous vehicles playing an important role in the on-demand delivery ecosystem, with helping to increase access to convenient and affordable deliveries.
"This is the first chapter of autonomous vehicles doing delivery on Uber," Noah Zych, who leads autonomous mobility and delivery at Uber, told CNN. "We see the potential in the future but have to start where we are today."