AI is also delivering food now! UberEats will launch autonomous driving robots for food delivery in Japan.
On Tuesday, Uber Technologies announced a partnership with Mitsubishi Electric and delivery robot company Cartken to launch an autonomous driving robot meal delivery service in Japan. This will be UberEats' first international site in Japan and its latest collaboration in automated meal delivery services. Sidewalk robot meal delivery services will begin in some areas of Tokyo at the end of March. Cartken will provide AI-guided robots that move at a speed close to human walking pace to form Japan's robot delivery fleet. Mitsubishi Electric will be responsible for overseeing operations. This partnership will provide sustainable food delivery services for consumers in Japan. Meanwhile, UberEats has also piloted automated meal delivery services with other robot companies in the United States.
Zhitong App learned that Uber Tech announced on Tuesday that its UberEats business is collaborating with Mitsubishi Electric and delivery robot company Cartken to start using autonomous delivery robots to deliver food in Japan.
According to both companies, sidewalk robot food delivery services will begin in some areas of Tokyo at the end of March, marking the latest collaboration between Uber Eats and Cartken. UberEats stated that Japan will be the first international site for its autonomous food delivery business, which has been limited to a few cities in the United States so far. Previously, UberEats and Cartken provided sidewalk robot food delivery services in Miami and Fairfax, Virginia.
Cartken, founded in Oakland, California in 2019 by former Google employees, will deploy its "C-type" robots that use artificial intelligence to navigate the surrounding environment at a speed close to human walking speed, forming Japan's robot delivery fleet. Both companies stated that Mitsubishi Electric will be responsible for overseeing operations.
Anjali Jindal Naik, Co-founder and COO of Cartken, said in a statement, "This collaboration marks a significant leap forward in redefining the future of food delivery, making it easier for Japanese consumers to access sustainable food delivery services."
In addition, UberEats has also partnered with robot companies Motional, Nuro, and ServeRobotics to pilot autonomous food delivery services in other cities in the United States.