Uber teams up with Nuro for autonomous food, grocery delivery

Tests with Nuro will begin this fall in Mountain View, California, and Houston, Texas

Uber Technologies Inc. has partnered with Nuro, a start-up, to test food delivery via unmanned vehicles in some U.S. locations. The company is looking to expand its tie-ups with companies focused on building self-driving machines. Restaurants and food delivery apps are increasingly focusing on last-mile autonomous delivery as consumers continue to order food online from the comfort of their homes even after lifting the pandemic restrictions. Tests with Nuro will begin this fall in Mountain View, California, and Houston, Texas, via a 10-year partnership, and the company also plans to expand the service to the greater Bay Area.

Uber, which aims to have only electric vehicles on its platform in Europe, Canada, and the United States in 2030, has also been running tests for autonomous delivery with Serve Robotics, which provides sidewalk machines for delivery and self-driving start-up Motional. Nuro, founded by former lead engineers from Google's self-driving car project, already has partnerships with U.S. retailers such as  Walmart and Kroger, as well as restaurant chains including  Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Domino's Pizza Inc. Customers will be able to choose driverless delivery as an option when ordering food and groceries in the Uber Eats trial.