DoorDash tempers AI agents, tests its own tools

Tony Xu reports that automated purchasing agents have generated only a few hundred orders on DoorDash, far from the 3.2 billion delivered in 2025. The group is betting on in-house trials, from text ordering to the Ask DoorDash chatbot, but warns that one should not be "illusionary" about the pace of adoption.

DoorDash tests text ordering and a chatbot, with caution

DoorDash is adapting its artificial intelligence tools as orders generated by third-party agents remain limited. In September, the company announced the trial of a text ordering feature, which has an interface reminiscent of Instinct. Another service, Ask DoorDash, allows users to create an order from a recipe or a shopping list and adjust items according to customer preferences. Tony Xu believes these tools could eventually generate new orders, while emphasizing that one should not be "illusionary" about the current low volume of orders placed by AI agents.

Orders via third-party agents remain marginal compared to overall volume

Tony Xu indicates that third-party AI agents have generated only a few hundred orders in total, and that DoorDash has not yet seen significant traffic through these channels, particularly with Muse. To give a sense of scale, DoorDash delivered 3.2 billion orders worldwide in 2025. The majority of customers still prefer using the app and website to place their orders. The mentioned AI agents include Muse and Instinct.

Users: price tracking yes, automated purchases still under conditions

Some users have indicated that AI agents can be useful for monitoring prices of holiday gifts or airline tickets. However, many hesitate to entrust the actual purchase to these agents. As a precaution, some prefer to use more secure payment methods, such as single-use credit cards, in case an error occurs during the order.