Serve Robotics becomes a tech supplier to other robot makers

Serve Robotics expands beyond delivery

Serve Robotics, maker of self-driving sidewalk delivery robots, is launching a new business line called Physical AI Services to supply technology to other robotics companies.

The company's background

Serve Robotics spun out of Uber's acquisition of Postmates in twenty twenty-one and went public in twenty twenty-four.

First customers and partners

Bedrock Robotics, developing self-driving systems for construction equipment, is a customer. Serve is also working with T-Mobile to bring AI computing power closer to robots.

Existing robot businesses continue

Serve makes sidewalk delivery robots and hospital robots acquired through its purchase of Diligent Robotics. These operations will continue alongside the new technology business.

The AWS moment for robotics

CEO Ali Kashani compared the expansion to Amazon's model: taking technology built for its own robots and opening it up for others to build on.

“I kind of think of it as the AWS moment where we are taking the technology we've built for us, and we're opening it up for more people to build on.”

Three products in Physical AI Services

Serve Link connects robots to AI systems in data centers. A data curator tool finds edge cases in robot-collected data. A foundation-model data catalog teaches AI models about human environments.

Delivery business shifts away from Uber

Serve's sidewalk delivery operations are expanding but shifting from Uber toward other partners including DoorDash and Wonder.

Why build your own robots first

Kashani said building its own robot fleet was essential to understanding what technology to develop and offer to other companies as the robotics industry matures.

“When the technology is so nascent, you have got to build the end-to-end application because that's the only way you know what to build.”