Zipotle Takes to the Skies While Hyphen Bags Another $10M
Serve buys Vayu, FAA updates Part 108, voice AI falters
August was certainly an august time for robotics — we saw helpful machines of all kinds take to streets and skies, while their flesh-based leaders raked in hundreds of millions in fresh funding. In case you missed it, Ottomate caught up with Pinkbot, revealing the company’s updated hardware and an expansion into new cities. Since then, the company revealed it’s re-entering Toronto, the town where the company was founded and originally operated until local leaders cracked down on sidewalk bots. Elsewhere, robotic gladiators are duking it out at the International Humanoid Olympiad — but so far the results suggest we humans have at least a few more years left at the top of food chain…
PARTNER | Are Autonomous Vehicles Impacting Rideshare Utilization and Driver Earnings?
Autonomous vehicles were expected to make rideshare cheaper for riders and more profitable for platforms. But how are they impacting traditional rideshare driver earnings and utilization today?
The Gridwise Autonomous Vehicle Impact Report analyzes four AV-active markets against nationwide trends to uncover the early effects on driver pay and productivity:
Hourly pay decreased YoY across all AV cities, including a –6.9% drop in San Francisco, while nationwide hourly pay rose +1.0% YoY.
Earnings per trip rose +3.4% YoY nationwide, but fell or remained flat in every AV market — with Austin declining –5.3% YoY.
Gross monthly pay dropped YoY in most AV cities, such as a –9.0% decline in Phoenix, even as nationwide earnings rose +8.0% YoY.
It’s still early days for autonomous vehicles, but the early data points to real pressure on drivers in AV markets.
Download the full report to get the complete picture of how AVs are reshaping rideshare.
Delivery Robotics, Drones & AVs
Chipotle has launched Zipotle, an aerial drone delivery pilot in Rowlett, Texas (near Dallas), partnering with Zipline to deliver full-menu orders via autonomous aircraft that gently lower meals directly to customers’ locations. Orders are placed in the Zipline app, featuring Chipotle’s entire menu of Southwestern cuisine.
GoTo Foods has launched a multi-brand drone delivery pilot in Frisco, Fort Worth, and Plano, Texas, in partnership with DoorDash and drone operator Wing. Customers within roughly four miles of participating Auntie Anne’s, Jamba, McAlister’s Deli, and Schlotzsky’s locations can now receive orders via drone, with orders arriving in 20 minutes or less.
The U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled the FAA’s long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Part 108, introducing a performance-based regulatory framework to enable routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations and to replace the current case-by-case waiver system.
Serve Robotics acquired Vayu Robotics to integrate foundation model–based autonomy and simulation-powered AI into its sidewalk delivery robots, aiming to improve navigation, safety, and expansion into new markets. The deal includes ~1.7 million shares upfront, up to 560,000 shares tied to performance milestones, and 4 million warrants issued to Khosla Ventures; Vayu’s leadership and investor Vinod Khosla are now part of Serve’s advisory board. Check out Serve and Vayu’s co-founders sharing the stage at Curbivore 2025.
Just Eat Takeaway.com has partnered with Swiss robotics firm RIVR to pilot doorstep delivery in Zurich using wheeled-legged ground robots powered by “Physical AI,” capable of navigating stairs, curbs, and urban obstacles at speeds up to ~15 km/h, with real-time monitoring, secure handover, and full weather resilience.
Robomart has unveiled its Level-4 autonomous delivery vehicle, the RM5, a shuttle-sized, all-electric robot with 10 climate-controlled lockers capable of carrying up to 500 lb, designed to fulfill multiple deliveries per trip and support a flat $3 delivery fee with no additional charges—launching later this year in Austin, Texas.
Brazil’s iFood shared details on its autonomous robot ADA — developed with the Brazilian startup Synkar — featuring Physical AI, computer vision, sensors, dynamic mapping, real-time obstacle avoidance, and remote support.
Nuro raised $203 million in Series E funding at a valuation of $6 billion, signaling confidence in its pivot from building delivery robots to licensing its "Nuro Driver" autonomous driving technology to automotive and mobility partners. Investors include Uber, Nvidia, and Baillie Gifford.
Humanoids
LimX Dynamics has unveiled the LimX Oli — a 1.65 m tall, full-size humanoid robot with 31 active degrees of freedom — designed to propel embodied-intelligence R&D through its modular hardware, open SDK, and high-fidelity motion capabilities.
Unitree just introduced two new robots: the R1 humanoid, priced around $5,900 with 26 joints and multimodal AI, and the A2 quadruped, capable of running at 11.2 mph, carrying heavy loads, and navigating rough terrain.
Boston Dynamics and Toyota Research Institute (TRI) have demonstrated that the Atlas humanoid robot can execute complex, multi-step manipulation tasks—combining walking, crouching, lifting, and reacting to unexpected obstacles—under the control of a single, language-conditioned Large Behavior Model (LBM) rather than separate, hand-coded routines.
Back of House Automation
Hyphen — makers of a closely-watched digital makeline — just secured $10 million in new funding from fast casual restaurant chain Cava.
Taco Bell is reassessing its use of voice-AI-powered drive-thru ordering—currently live at over 500 locations—after encountering glitches, prank orders, and mixed customer reactions, prompting the company to recalibrate when and where AI should take the lead versus human intervention.
Undaunted, Vox AI — a Dutch startup developing multilingual voice-AI platforms for quick-service restaurants — secured €7.5 million ($8.7 million USD) in seed funding—bringing its total raised to around €8.6 million—to accelerate global expansion and open a San Francisco office.
Farm & Sourcing Automation
John Deere has completed the full acquisition of California-based GUSS Automation, integrating its autonomous sprayer systems tailored for high-value crops — such as orchards, vineyards, and specialty produce — into its precision agriculture lineup. The two companies first formed a joint venture in 2022.
Industry Trends
With 2025 now 2/3s through, Sifted checked in on Europe’s biggest robotics fundraising hauls of the year, led by Neura Robotics, CMR Surgical and Aerones.
Kiosks & Self-Checkout
Starting September 21, Long Beach, California, will enforce a “Safe Stores are Staffed Stores” ordinance, mandating that grocery and drug retailers dedicate at least one employee to monitor every three self-checkout stations, keep a staffed traditional checkout lane open during self-checkout hours, and cap self-checkout transactions at 15 items—aimed at reducing theft and improving customer support. Violations could result in fines of up to $2,500 per incident per hour.
In Other News
Are self-driving bins the future of trash pickup? Alibaba to spin-off its Banma AV subsidiary. Intel-spinout RealSense collaborates with NVIDIA to integrate Jetson Thor and sim platforms on depth cameras. Walmart chooses Ranpak AutoFill for new FCs. Aurora and McLeod partner on AV trucking. PrismaX debuts tele-operations platform to control robotic arms. Cyngn deploys autonomous DriveMod Tuggers at Coats. Kodiak Robotics chooses NXP for AV processors. Irvine, CA-based FieldAI raises $400M for embodied AI.