---
title: "Woman Using Waymo Robotaxi to Deliver Doordash"
description: "In an endearing sign of the times, a San Francisco content creator decided to make her first trip in a Waymo a profitable one."
date: "2025-10-31"
modified: "2025-10-31"
authors:
  - name: "Joe Wilkins"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins"
url: "https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/waymo-robotaxi-doordash-gig-work"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
---

# Woman Using Waymo Robotaxi to Deliver Doordash

![We heard you like the gig economy.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/waymo-robotaxi-doordash-gig-work.jpg>)
*dmpnzzz via TikTok*

It's a tech CEO's wet dream, but a labor economist's worst nightmare: to film some content for a TikTok reel, one San Francisco woman decided to hail a Waymo to complete her Doordash delivery.

The TikTokker, real name unknown but who goes by the handle @dmpnzzz, posted the minute-long clip last Thursday. She doesn't say much about the finances of the experiment, but the clip does raise an interesting question: can you Doordash in a Waymo and still come out ahead?

https://www.tiktok.com/@dmpnzzz/video/7564166755862514957?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Curious to find out, *InsideEV's* Chad Swiatecki [did some back-of-the-envelope math](<https://insideevs.com/news/776911/doordash-using-waymo/>) to see if the unholy Frankenstein of gig economy services makes financial sense. The short answer? It all depends on three variable factors: the Waymo fare, the distance, and the tip.

Waymo doesn't publicly declare its fares, instead locking them behind a black box [surge-pricing model](<https://hls.harvard.edu/today/how-delta-airlines-and-other-companies-use-dynamic-pricing-to-determine-how-much-you-pay/>) — yet another sign of whatever stage of capitalism we're in. Doordash fees are likewise highly dependent on time, city, and tips, with base pay for delivery drivers hovering around the $2 per delivery range before tip.

Those unknowns in mind, Swiatecki estimated that a "short, tip-heavy delivery that happens to align with a cheap, quick Waymo ride" will probably work out. Any order requiring a Doordash worker to trek across town will probably end in the red.

Either way, the thought experiment might be beside the point. Doordash just spent buttload of money unleashing a fleet of apparently [road-safe delivery robots](<https://www.wired.com/story/doordash-dot-delivery-robot/>) onto Phoenix, which it calls "Dot." As Swiatecki ponders, "if the economics are squishy, the symbolism is crystal-clear: Automation is bleeding into the last mile of gig work."

**More on Doordash:** [*Dystopia Intensifies as Startup Lets You Take Out a Micro-Loan to Get Fast Food*](<https://futurism.com/doordash-klarna-loan-partnership>)

## Author
At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/joeonhere.bsky.social>)