Uber to Offer Food Delivery by Drone in San Diego
Uber Technologies Inc. plans to deliver food by drone in San Diego as part of a wide-reaching commercial test program approved by the federal government May 9, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.
Khosrowshahi said people should expect meal delivery in five to 30 minutes, depending on whether it comes from a drone or a human. 鈥淧ush a button and get food on your doorstep,鈥 he said. Uber is now the largest food-delivery business in the world, Khosrowshahi told the crowd during an on-stage interview with Bloomberg at an Uber conference in Los Angeles.
The U.S. Transportation Department said it chose 10 state, local and tribal governments and a handful of companies, including Alphabet Inc., FedEx Corp., Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Uber, to work together on commercial drone testing.
FedEx ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest North American for-hire carriers.
RELATED:听FedEx, Alphabet, Uber win drone sweepstakes; Amazon left out
Hamburgers via drone was among a range of topics that Khosrowshahi touched on during the interview at the company鈥檚 flying car conference, Uber Elevate. While the CEO said he had joined Uber last year as a skeptic of the flying car program, he eventually decided to support the futuristic endeavor. 鈥淯ber can鈥檛 just be about cars,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t has to be about mobility.鈥
Uber itself isn鈥檛 building flying cars. Instead, it鈥檚 striking partnerships with companies, along with government agencies such as NASA and the U.S. Army, with the hope that pilot programs will begin in 2020.
RELATED:听Amazon delivery drone would dismantle itself in sky, rain down parts
Talk of flying cars 鈥 which are many years away from moving around actual customers, if ever 鈥 offered a diversion from Uber鈥檚 embattled autonomous-car program. Testing has remained grounded since March, when one of its self-driving vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz.
On May 9, Khosrowshahi said he expected Uber would resume testing in 鈥渢he next few months,鈥 once the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation. He said Uber is cooperating with the inquiry. Khosrowshahi then took a jab at Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, who has taken a more combative approach with the agency. 鈥淲e will not be tweeting ahead of their findings,鈥 Khosrowshahi said.
Khosrowshahi also emphasized Uber鈥檚 commitment to electric bicycles after its acquisition of Jump Bikes last month. The business competes with several venture-backed startups offering similar services for renting bikes and scooters around cities using an app. 鈥淚f the unit economics and the technology is there,鈥 he said, 鈥渙ur appetite to invest is infinite.鈥
