I do not care how many delivery robots DoorDash can display at an event. I care how many orders they finish without rescue. DoorDash introduced Dot in September 2025 as a small electric delivery robot designed for roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, and driveways. It said Dot could travel up to 20 mph and began an early-access program in Tempe and Mesa, Arizona.
I like the size choice. A full car is too much machine for a short order from a nearby shop. But a smaller robot only saves money if it can pick up, travel, and hand off the order without quietly adding a person at each awkward step. A restaurant counter, apartment entrance, blocked sidewalk, or customer who is not outside can turn an autonomous route into a manual job.
DoorDash’s autonomous platform is supposed to select among Dashers, Dot, drones, and other robots. I would judge that dispatcher by completed orders and total cost, not by how many modes appear on its diagram. The company has also worked with Serve’s sidewalk robots and Waymo in Phoenix. Those are different service areas and handoff problems; one success would not validate all three.
I previously predicted thousands of Dots across dozens of cities by the end of 2026 without a basis for that number. The better milestone is public evidence of how many eligible orders Dot actually finishes, how often staff intervene, and whether merchants and customers want to do the handoff again.