There’s no shortage of grocery delivery options these days, whether via Amazon Prime or AI-backed micro-grocer. Now, Walmart is taking things a step further, entrusting self-driving cars with the task of grocery courier.
The superstore announced this week it will be partnering up with Waymo, Google’s former foray into the self-driving car space, to launch a pilot program to make trips to the grocery easier.
The program will be launched in Phoenix, where Waymo has been running their early rider program since last year. Here’s how it works: participants in the program can order their groceries online at Walmart (with exclusive savings, nonetheless), and ride in one of Waymo’s 600 autonomous minivans to facilitate the pick-up. Skipping the grocery line and parking lot stress sounds pretty nice to us.
Waymo will also be teaming up with car rental companies in Phoenix to offer car rental customers access to their self-driving technology. More and more companies are exploring the possibilities of self-driving vehicles, including Uber’s autonomous chauffeurs taking to the streets in select cities like Pittsburgh.