Domino’s will start robot pizza deliveries in Houston this year

Enlarge (credit: Nuro)

Domino’s will begin delivering pizza using self-driving robots in the Houston area later this year, the company announced on Monday. The company will use delivery vehicles from the Silicon Valley startup Nuro.

“Nuro’s vehicles are specially designed to optimize the food delivery experience, which makes them a valuable partner in our autonomous vehicle journey,” said Kevin Vasconi of Domino’s in a press release. “The opportunity to bring our customers the choice of an unmanned delivery experience, and our operators an additional delivery solution during a busy store rush, is an important part of our autonomous vehicle testing.”

The deal is a coup for Nuro, which raised $940 million in February and is already delivering groceries for Kroger in the Houston area. Pizza delivery is one of the most common applications for last-mile deliveries, and Domino’s is one of the biggest companies in the business, delivering about 3 million pizzas per day. That’s a lot of potential business for Nuro if the Houston trial is successful.