Uber will team up with Starship Technologies to start autonomous robot deliveries in the UK this December. The service will first be available to Uber Eats customers in the Leeds and Sheffield areas, with plans to broaden to other parts of Europe next year and to the US in 2027.
Starship’s small delivery robots will run at Level 4 autonomy, meaning they can work on their own inside a set area. Uber has been signing deals with several self-driving and robot firms as it pushes to automate more of its services. The company already works with Avride and Serve Robotics for robot food delivery in the United States.
Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies, stated, “Together, we’re building the infrastructure that will define the next generation of urban logistics.
“Uber Eats has built the world’s leading delivery platform, with the widest reach, trusted by millions across 10,000 cities. We bring scalable autonomous technology that works profitably at city scale.”
Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous at Uber, added, “Autonomous delivery is an exciting part of how we see the future of Uber Eats.”
“Together with Starship, we’re bringing this future to life across multiple continents, leveraging Uber’s global scale and Starship’s proven autonomy to deliver efficient and affordable experiences for consumers and merchants everywhere.”
Im all for convenience, but do we really need robots delivering our stuff? Feels like were getting lazier by the day!
Im all for innovation, but are robot deliveries really the way to go? What about job security for humans? Just a thought.
Robot deliveries sound cool, but what about job loss? Will automation lead to more unemployment or create new opportunities?
Robot deliveries? Sounds cool but isnt this taking away jobs from humans? What do you think?
I think robot deliveries are cool and all, but what about the job loss for human delivery drivers? Shouldnt that be a concern too?