DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ:DASH) CEO Tony Xu recently shared the challenges the company has faced in developing autonomous delivery technologies.
DoorDash’s Autonomy Push Seen As A "Long Journey"
In a recent discussion at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference, Xu characterized the journey as a “long journey” replete with “lots of pain and suffering”.
Since 2017, DoorDash has been developing autonomy and robotics technology. Xu compared the effort to learning a new sport, involving several subfields such as hardware engineering, software development, and optimizing the delivery network.
Check out the current price of DASH stock here.
“It’s very rare that one company is equally good at all of those skills,” said Xu.
Despite the challenges of a single company mastering all these domains, Xu remains hopeful about DoorDash’s prospects. He noted that the long-term investments initiated eight years ago are starting to bear fruit, albeit in the preliminary stages.
“Those investments are starting to actually get to maybe the first inning of commercial progress,” he said.
Although there are no official autonomous commercial drone operations in the U.S. so far, Xu disclosed that drone deliveries are already underway in Australia. DoorDash is also working to secure permits for drone deliveries in certain U.S. cities, but has not provided a clear timeline.
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Autonomy Amid Deliveroo Buy, Strong Growth
The push towards autonomous delivery aligns with DoorDash’s recent strategic moves. In May 2025, the company announced its acquisition of UK-based food delivery firm Deliveroo for $3.9 billion, a move aimed at bolstering its international footprint.
Furthermore, DoorDash’s Q2 report in August 2025 showed a 20% increase in orders and a 25% rise in revenue YoY, reflecting a strong market position. Top Wall Street analysts have also predicted a 30% rally for DoorDash, further underscoring the company’s potential.
As DoorDash continues to innovate and expand, the successful implementation of autonomous delivery could significantly enhance its operational efficiency and global reach.
Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings shows that DoorDash had a strong price trend over the short term, medium and long term. Check the detailed report here to assess the other ratings.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
