Following a successful pilot program in New Jersey, food technology platform Wonder and autonomous technology developer Avride are scaling their partnership to bring AI-powered robot delivery to four major urban areas.
The expansion brings autonomous delivery services to Jersey City and Hoboken in New Jersey, Arlington County in Virginia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Integrated directly into the Grubhub marketplace, the rollout makes automated last-mile delivery available to dozens of additional local merchants and restaurants, including at least one Wonder location in each designated market.
The multi-city expansion follows the one-year anniversary of Wonder and Avride’s initial pilot in Jersey City, which launched in October 2025. That pilot marked a milestone as Wonder’s first deployment of marketplace autonomous delivery outside of traditional campus environments.
According to project data, nearly 20 percent of all deliveries from Wonder’s Jersey City location have been successfully completed by autonomous robots, pointing to high customer adoption and reliable performance in dense city environments.
“This expansion reflects our belief that the future of food delivery will be faster, smarter and increasingly powered by technology,” said PJ Poykayil, EVP of Customer Delivery Operations at Wonder. “As we scale our Jersey City pilot and expand to Hoboken, Arlington and Philadelphia, we’re bringing autonomous delivery to more merchants on the Grubhub marketplace — unlocking new efficiencies while creating a more seamless experience for customers.”
How It Works for Customers and Merchants
Eligible customers ordering through the Grubhub platform within the specified service zones may be assigned an autonomous robot for their delivery if they opt in. The checkout and tracking flow remain fully integrated into the familiar Grubhub app experience.
For local restaurants and food-service merchants, the robots offer an operational buffer during peak rush hours. Participating vendors can streamline pickup logistics without added internal complexity or extra costs.
Local business owners have welcomed the addition. Catherine Willhoit, co-founder of participating merchant The Hive, noted that the technology has been a seamless asset for their coffee and bakeshop. “The robots are easy for our team to use and efficiently deliver our orders,” Willhoit said. “It’s also pretty wild watching our cinnamon rolls and drinks cruise through the streets of Jersey City all on their own.”
The newly deployed fleet features Avride’s latest generation of autonomous driving technology. Powered by onboard artificial intelligence, the four-wheel chassis robots are designed to maneuver high-traffic sidewalks, make split-second routing decisions, and operate across various weather conditions.
Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride, emphasized the reliability of the system. “Our fully autonomous technology, combined with our extensive experience operating delivery robots in dense urban environments, ensures that we can deliver a reliable, seamless service for our partners at scale.”
Beyond major urban city centers, Wonder and Avride continue to run large-scale operations across dozens of university campuses nationwide, including the country’s largest single-site robot delivery program at The Ohio State University, where a fleet of 120 robots handles up to 2,000 deliveries daily.
