Robotaxi car company Waymo and food delivery app DoorDash confirmed that, yes, they are working together to send people out to close car doors left open by careless riders. We live in a sad and horrible future.
Earlier this week, a Reddit post from a DoorDash driver went semi-viral as it seemingly showed the app offering the user $6.25 to go drive a few blocks and close a Waymo door that was left open. Once the task was completed and verified, the driver would be paid an additional $5. The user had never seen an offer like this before and asked others if they had been asked to go close a robotaxi’s door. Some even wondered if the driver was faking the order entirely for some odd reason. But nope, this is real.
TechCrunch reached out to Waymo and DoorDash about the post, and the two companies confirmed they are indeed working together and paying people to close doors.
“Waymo is currently running a pilot program in Atlanta to enhance its AV fleet efficiency. In the rare event a vehicle door is left ajar, preventing the car from departing, nearby Dashers are notified, allowing Waymo to get its vehicles back on the road quickly,” said the companies in a joint statement.
Yes, this means that DoorDashers are getting paid to close doors on vehicles that are designed to one day replace them and other drivers completely. But hey, $11 is nice, I guess. And maybe the robots will remember the ones who closed the doors for them and be nicer to them when they run everything.