Brought to you by Autolane and the AV Coverage Checker.
The lane is changing. Every week we’ll bring you our quick take on what’s moving, what’s stalling, and who’s building the future of autonomous commerce. No fluff, all signal…and we’ll keep it brief.
The Big One This Week
The Ordering Is Getting Fixed. Now Comes the Delivery.
This week Olo launched the Olo App, a single place for customers to order pickup and delivery from restaurants across its network. It is commission-free for restaurants, and it gives them access to customer data. Olo says it works with more than 800 restaurant brands, and it plans to open the app to restaurants outside its network soon.
Olo’s CEO says an $85 delivery order he placed through the app cost $19.34 less than the same order on a marketplace, even after Olo’s 5 percent fee.
Two weeks ago it was Bites, a 10-person startup letting diners order from restaurants inside ChatGPT at menu prices plus $1. Olo starts with chains, Bites started with neighborhood spots, but the direction is the same. The order is moving back to the restaurant.
For a small restaurant owner, that matters. Whoever takes the order owns the customer, and for the first time the owner gets a say in who that is.
There is one piece left. The order still has to get to the door. A restaurant can take it directly and keep its menu price, but the delivery has to be affordable for the customer and fair to the kitchen.
That is the idea behind Autolane Courier in Austin. The customer orders from the restaurant’s own menu, pays the menu price plus a flat $1.99, and an Autolane self-driving Tesla brings it home. No tip required. No commission out of the restaurant’s side of the ticket.
Ordering is coming back to the owners who earned it. Autolane is the autonomous delivery platform that helps the owner keep the customer, the price, and the margin. 👉 goautolane.com/autolane-courier
Image source: OLO
AV Roundup
Tesla says Cybercabs reach customers by year end. On its Q3 call, Tesla said it is aiming to deliver Cybercabs to customers before 2026 closes, with Dallas getting the vehicle next month. Every Cybercab built so far is going into Tesla’s own fleet, and federal regulators are still reviewing how the vehicle was certified. Tesla’s answers are due Oct 30.
Waymo plans to grow its fleet fivefold. Waymo wants to go from about 4,000 vehicles today to 8,000 by the end of this year and 20,000 by the end of 2027, following a $5 billion loan earlier this month. Waymo also announced Madrid as its next international market. More vehicles on the road means more cities ready for what comes next.
Sidewalk robots grow in Philadelphia and beyond. Avride is adding Grubhub and Wonder food halls to its Philadelphia deliveries, plus Hoboken, Arlington County, and a bigger Jersey City service area. Dozens more restaurants are expected to join across those markets
The Last 50 Ft Podcast
On Episode 24, Chef Paul Iglesias of Parche and Jaji in Oakland joins the show. He moved to Oakland in 2015, opened Parche first and then Jaji one block away, with Colombian and Afghan roots on the menu.
Then we asked him about delivery. Parche is dine-in and limited takeout. Paul says the marketplaces take 35 percent, and he worries about what happens to a plated dish once it leaves the building. His answer on autonomous delivery was yes, with one condition. He put the number at 9 percent.
If you run a restaurant and have ever wondered whether delivery could work without giving up your margin, this one is for you.
Listen on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts 🎧
Autonomous Commerce Brief Take
Every week there is another way to take an order. An AI assistant, a new app, a restaurant’s own menu. Not long ago, many owners had to route orders through someone else’s app. Now the options are multiplying, and the owner is getting more control.
This week Tesla put a customer date on the Cybercab, Waymo set a fleet target of 20,000, and Olo handed restaurants a commission-free front door. In under a week, Waymo also announced Toronto and Madrid and started serving the Las Vegas airport. Tesla is bringing the Cybercab to Dallas next month. The vehicles are coming either way, and faster than most people planned for.
Here is what that means if you run a restaurant. Orders are moving back to your menu. Vehicles are arriving in more neighborhoods. The piece in the middle, who handles the delivery and who gets paid when the food leaves the kitchen, is still being decided. That is good news, because it means you still get a say.
Ask what each option costs you. Ask who owns the customer once the order is placed. Ask what happens to the food between your pass and their door. The owners who ask those questions now will be the ones setting the terms later.
The tools to keep your customer and your price exist, and the delivery to match is arriving.
The lane is changing. Let’s make sure it leads somewhere worth going. 🏁
Join the Autolane Courier waitlist at goautolane.com/autolane-courier