1 hour ago
10
Uber has officially walked away from Serve Robotics, selling its remaining stake in the autonomous delivery startup as of August 11. The split comes down to something deceptively simple: the two companies couldn’t agree on how, where, and how fast to deploy delivery robots.
From spin-off to split-up
The relationship between Uber and Serve Robotics has roots going back to Uber’s acquisition of Postmates in 2020. Serve originally emerged from Postmates X, the food delivery company’s robotics division, and was spun out as an independent entity in March 2021.
Uber retained a minority stake in the newly independent company, holding approximately 12% as of late 2025. The arrangement seemed logical on paper: Serve would build and operate the robots, Uber would provide the delivery network and customer demand through Uber Eats.
The two companies had set an ambitious target of deploying up to 2,000 robots for Uber Eats deliveries across US markets. Serve has deployed over 2,000 robots and expanded operations across several major US cities, partnering with multiple restaurant brands along the way.
Revenue dependency and the road ahead for Serve
The financial implications for Serve are hard to overstate. In 2023, Uber accounted for roughly 71% of the company’s revenue. The existing partnership agreement between Uber and Serve was already set to expire in early 2027, and Serve had been signaling that a renewal wasn’t necessarily in the cards. Uber’s divestiture accelerates what was likely becoming an inevitable uncoupling.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
English (US) ·