Uber

The popular online grocer will now offer same-day delivery in New York City via Uber Eats, the companies announced today. It’s the first time that Fresh Direct’s catalog will be available on a third-party app. And it will provide Uber Eats more ammunition in its war against Amazon, Instacart, Walmart, and other players in the online grocery delivery space. Especially now as all those super-rapid venture-backed grocery delivery startups evaporated.

Avride’s fleet of sidewalk delivery robots has arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, where they will begin ferrying Uber Eats orders starting this week. The bots have a range of 31 miles and can drive at up to 5mph, even through rain or snow.

Ride share drivers in New York are guaranteed a minimum wage — but Uber and Lyft gamed the law by locking drivers out of the app, making it impossible for them to earn more, a Bloomberg investigation found.

I got an uncomfortable feeling while reading this essay about the difficulties of finding a reliable means of transportation from the DNC. Part of it is the over-reliance of cities on ridehail apps like Uber to accommodate large numbers of people in the absence of adequate public transit. And the other part is the knowledge that this is just the way it’s going to be from now on. Taxi stands are a thing of the past. Uber has its claws sunk deep in the government. We’re all stuck in the Ride App Zone for life.

Tony West, who also served in the Department of Justice during the Obama administration, just spoke at the DNC. Of course, he wasn’t there to talk tech, but rather, to speak to Harris’ character.

Announced in May, Uber Caregiver will help caregivers more easily arrange transportation and deliveries starting this summer. What I think is really useful, though, is that Uber’s partnering with health insurers so you could use healthcare benefits to pay for rides to medical appointments and more.

If you use Uber with an iPhone, you can turn off unwanted marketing notifications — but the feature is a leetle hard to find. Okay, it’s a lot hard to find. John Gruber found it, though: go to Account > Settings > Privacy > Offers and Promos from Uber and tap the word here. You can then unsubscribe from some or all Uber marketing emails or notifications.

Uber’s Lost & Found Index just came out, with a look at the most commonly forgotten items (clothes, luggage, not shocking), the most forgetful cities (get it together, Miami!), and the weirdest things people are leaving in their Ubers. Also, it’s Wednesday, which is apparently Leave Your Wallet In An Uber Day. Be careful out there!

Waymo has been offering autonomous rides in Phoenix since late 2022, but now it’s providing transportation for a new kind of customer: your dinner. Starting today, Waymo will start making food deliveries for some Uber Eats customers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft “say people are receptive to their ads,” with customers “less likely to cancel” their rides if they’re distracted by advertisements while they wait.

Just in time for al fresco dining season, too. But for real, don’t make your courier hack through a jungle or swim across rivers to find you. And don’t forget to tip!