Uber Eats teams with Zipline to launch drone food deliveries in U.S. cities

Uber Eats announced a partnership with Zipline to bring autonomous drone deliveries to consumers in the United States, beginning later this year in Zipline's current markets like Dallas and Houston. The service will use Zipline's Platform 2 electric aircraft, which can transport packages up to 8 pounds over distances of about 10 miles in roughly ten minutes, hovering at 300 feet before a tethered unit lowers the order to the ground.

Customers in the covered areas will be able to choose the drone option via the Uber Eats app, though pricing and weather contingencies have not been detailed. Zipline already operates more than 2.7 million commercial deliveries and has secured FAA approval for beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights. Both companies have made a strategic investment to accelerate the rollout, targeting one million daily drone deliveries by the end of 2029. Uber has not commented further, and Zipline did not respond before the deadline.