DoorDash just unveiled Dot, the first commercial autonomous robot built to navigate bike lanes, roads, sidewalks, and driveways. Built entirely in-house by DoorDash Labs, Dot is one-tenth the size of a car, reaches speeds up to 20 mph, and is designed specifically for neighborhood deliveries.

"You don't always need a full-sized car to deliver a tube of toothpaste or pack of diapers. That's the insight behind Dot," said Stanley Tang, Co-Founder and Head of DoorDash Labs. "The breakthrough wasn't just making it autonomous, but in making it reliable and efficient to serve the needs of local businesses and consumers."

DoorDash is launching an early access program in Tempe and Mesa, Arizona, with plans to expand to multiple new markets. The robot integrates with DoorDash's new Autonomous Delivery Platform, which acts as an AI dispatcher to match each order with the optimal delivery method—whether that's a Dasher, Dot, a drone, or a sidewalk robot.

The platform optimizes in real-time based on speed, cost, location, and experience. DoorDash says Dashers will continue to handle the vast majority of deliveries, while autonomous technology lets them focus on high-value orders requiring human judgment.

"With more than 10 billion deliveries under our belt, we've learned what works, what doesn't, and what scales," said Ashu Rege, VP and Head of Autonomy at DoorDash Labs. "Making autonomous technology work for delivery requires reimagining it from the ground up."

This is exciting stuff to see hitting the streets. Autonomous delivery robots are finally moving from pilot programs to real commercial deployment. DoorDash isn't the only one betting on this—they also partnered with Serve Robotics to add proven sidewalk robots alongside their in-house Dot. And now they're adding Waymo for full-size autonomous deliveries.

What makes Dot different is the multi-modal approach. DoorDash built it from scratch knowing exactly what their network needs, and they're orchestrating it alongside human Dashers and drones. This is exactly how micromobility should work—purpose-built robots for specific use cases, not trying to replace humans entirely.

The all-electric design and smaller footprint mean fewer cars on the road, less congestion, and lower emissions for those quick trips. That matters when you're doing millions of deliveries every day—from neighborhood taquerias to corner delis to busy restaurant districts like San Francisco's Mission.

Watch for this: DoorDash deploys 2,000+ Dot robots by end of 2026 across 15-20 cities. The efficiency advantage is massive—robots cost 70-80% less per delivery than human dashers for short-distance orders (under 2 miles, simple drop-offs). That doesn't replace dashers—it handles high-volume, low-complexity deliveries, freeing humans for orders requiring judgment, customer interaction, or navigating complex buildings. Micromobility wins when it complements humans, not competes with them.

Source: DoorDash