Zoox, Waymo, Avride and Tesla Race to Cover the Country with AV Service
New partnerships for Coco, Wing and Starship; China warns of robotics bubble
November was jam packed with big robotic breakthroughs, so much so that today’s edition is a day late (sorry about that!) From A to Z — that’s Appetronix to Zoox — we’ve got plenty of news below.
Delivery Robotics, Drones & AVs
Zoox opened up its robotaxi network to public users in San Francisco, offering free rides in the SoMa, Mission and Design District neighborhoods.
Coco Robotics is expanding its partnership with DoorDash, bringing its delivery bots to Miami, with a focus on the 3PD’s DashMart locations.
Coco and DoorDash first announced their nationwide partnership at Curbivore 2025 — rewatch the discussion here — and secure your tickets to Curbivore 2026.
Waymo is expanding across California, turning on freeway driving, while expanding its service area to include more of the Bay Area and SoCal. Out of the Golden State, the Alphabet-backed AVer is also headed to Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, followed by Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
Drone delivery heavyweight Zipline is expanding its healthcare logistics platform across Africa, backed by up to $150 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of State.
Autonomous trucking startup Einride hopes to go public via SPAC, at a $1.8 billion pre-money valuation. The company may want to first clear up its lawsuit with Maersk; the two companies are clashing over a failed partnership that was meant to encompass 300 trucks.
Serve Robotics’ Q3 results sees revenue come in at $687k.
Tesla received its final permit, allowing it to operate a robotaxi network in Arizona.
Uber Eats launched a new partnership with PDD stalwart Starship Robotics, launching in the U.K. by year’s end, with Europe following next year and the U.S. coming in 2027.
Tokyo-based Turing raised ¥15.3 Billion ($98.6 million USD) for its autonomous vehicle tech-stack.
Wing and Walmart have expanded their partnership, bringing drone deliveries to the suburbs of Atlanta.
Uber has taken Avride’s autonomous Hyundai’s live in Dallas; the safety-driver equipped cars are now cruising across Downtown, Uptown, Turtle Creek and Deep Ellum.
Humanoids
Andy Rubin, famed inventor of the Android operating system, is launching a stealthy robotics startup, based out of Tokyo.
Founded by ex-Nvidia researchers, Flexion has raised $50 million to create a “brain” for new humanoids. Investors include DST Global Partners, NVentures, Redalpine, Prosus Ventures and Moonfire Ventures.
Figure AI has been sued by an ex-employee who alleges the company’s humanoid can “fracture a human skull.”
Back of House Automation
Sweetgreen has sold Infinite Kitchens, its automated bowl-making solution, to Wonder. The salad-slinging startup fetched $186 million for the subsidiary, while retaining the rights to continue using the tech, having once purchased it (when it was known as Spyce) for about $70M.
Appetronix raised $10 million for high-traffic kitchen robotics, with funding coming from Jim Grote (founder of Donatos Pizza,) the Grote family and AlleyCorp.
Kroger is shuttering three of its Ocado-powered automated fulfillment centers, located in Pleasant Prairie, WI; Frederick, MD; and Groveland, FL.
Tesla Diner, the automaker’s tech-forward restaurant in Los Angeles, lost its head chef less than four months after opening. (More on the Tesla Diner here.)
Fresh off of raising $12 million, Armstrong Robotics is debuting a new general-purpose robot for commercial kitchens and restaurants, initially going to market with a focus on dishwashing.
Farm & Sourcing Automation
Monarch Tractors was sued by one of its dealers, which alleged that the startup’s autonomous farm machinery is “defective” and “unable to operate autonomously.”
Industry Trends
Robot orders in North America grew in Q3, reaching 8,806 robots, with a value of $574 million, a 17.2% rise in revenue YoY.
China’s economic-planning agency is warning the humanoid center may be experiencing a bubble, as over 150 companies race to market with similar products.
Kiosks & Self-Checkout
Estonia is mulling legislation that would allow for self-service pharmacies, using kiosks to provide medical necessities to rural villages.
In Other News
Tesla hopes to begin Cybercab production in April. Sweetgreen opens Infinite Kitchen powered, drive-thru oriented Sweetlane in Costa Mesa. Russian humanoid flops on stage. Can Claude train a robotic dog? Tesla opened up its Austin robotaxi network to all iPhone users. The ethical concerns around the police use of robotic dogs. Sodexo names new North American head. LOXO begins autonomous grocery deliveries in Germany. Isuzu begins AV trucking tests in Japan. Physical Intelligence raises $600M for robotic foundation models, backers include Alphabet’s venture arm. Tutor Intelligence raises $34M for warehouse robotics. Meet the workers training new robots. Two new robotic wok restaurants have opened in LA — which one is better? MIT student’s highly-cited AI study falls apart under scrutiny.