DoorDash is expanding its autonomous delivery efforts and expects its Dot ground robots to handle a high single-digit percentage of orders in the company’s largest test market by the end of 2026, offering an early indication of how automation could eventually complement its large human delivery network.
DoorDash said it has increased both the number of Dot robots in operation and the average number of deliveries completed by each robot per day. Based on the progress to date, management expects Dot to account for a high-single-digit percentage of orders in its largest test market by year-end.
The company is simultaneously expanding aerial delivery. DoorDash Air recently received Part 135 air carrier certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, allowing DoorDash to operate as an air carrier and increase testing of more integrated drone-delivery experiences.
DoorDash emphasized that its autonomous delivery strategy is not simply about building robots. Scaling the system requires manufacturing, maintenance, charging infrastructure, merchant and consumer handoffs, routing and assignment across a multimodal delivery network.
The long-term objective is to use autonomous delivery to complement Dashers, expand the geographic and economic range over which merchants can reach consumers and reduce average fulfillment costs. DoorDash also said Dashers are expected to remain the backbone of its logistics network for a long time, even as investment in ground and air robotics increases.
The autonomy investment comes as DoorDash’s overall marketplace continues growing rapidly. Q2 total orders increased 27% year-over-year to 970 million, Marketplace GOV increased 36% to approximately $33.1 billion and revenue increased 36% to $4.45 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose 40% to $914 million.
Even excluding Deliveroo, DoorDash reported 17% growth in total orders, 23% growth in Marketplace GOV and 24% revenue growth, indicating that a substantial portion of the company’s expansion came from its existing operations rather than the acquisition alone.
DoorDash is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence alongside robotics. The company recently launched Ask, an AI assistant designed to help consumers discover restaurants and build grocery baskets, while other AI tools are being applied to merchant onboarding, catalog ingestion, ad monetization, routing, traffic prediction and Dasher safety.
Internally, DoorDash has developed software that routes AI workloads to the model it believes is most efficient for the amount of intelligence required, part of an effort to balance experimentation with productivity and control AI-related costs.
The company is simultaneously consolidating its international operations around a single global technology platform. DoorDash expects the platform to be fully rolled out during the first half of 2027 and believes it can accelerate product development, reduce redundancy and improve investment efficiency across its international businesses.
Merchant services provide another expansion opportunity. New signed venues at SevenRooms increased more than 100% year-over-year during Q2, revenue from DoorDash’s digital ordering service increased more than 40%, and the service is now used by more than 150,000 merchants. Reservations booked through DoorDash marketplaces increased more than 150% sequentially.
Together, the initiatives suggest DoorDash is attempting to expand beyond its original restaurant-delivery marketplace into a broader local-commerce technology platform combining membership, merchant software, AI and eventually multiple autonomous fulfillment methods.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our long-term goal is to complement Dashers in a way that expands merchants’ ability to reach consumers, while reducing the average cost of doing so.”
“We are still very early in our autonomous efforts and expect many challenges as we learn to scale. We expect Dashers to remain the backbone of our logistics network for a very long time, but we are increasing our levels of investment in both our land and air based robots and are optimistic we can continue to make steady progress.”
DoorDash statement
