DoorDash Lets Users Order Food by Text via New AI Agent

DoorDash announced on Wednesday that it is launching a text-to-order AI agent that lets users place orders through Apple Messages. The move puts the delivery company squarely into the race to deploy personal AI agents that handle tasks without forcing users to open apps or websites.

The tool works on simple prompts. A user can text "order my usual," according to DoorDash, and the agent will understand that the phrase refers to their Friday night order. The system interprets routine shorthand and past behavior rather than requiring users to scroll through menus and rebuild a cart each time.

The agent does more than repeat past purchases. DoorDash says users can ask for a specific dish or request a recommendation for a local spot. The agent then searches nearby restaurants, suggests a cart based on the prompt, and can even text photos of the food it recommends. For group orders, DoorDash says the agent can manage mixed dietary preferences and different quantities within a single order — a task that typically forces one person to juggle a long list of individual requests in the app.

The competitive logic behind the launch is direct. By introducing an AI agent for food ordering, DoorDash is looking to gain an edge over rivals Uber Eats and Grubhub, according to the company's announcement. Delivery platforms compete on convenience and speed at the ordering stage, and a conversational interface removes friction that app navigation creates.

The launch also lands amid a broader industry push toward personal AI agents — software that completes tasks on a user's behalf without the user navigating apps or websites themselves. DoorDash is applying that pattern to one of the highest-frequency consumer transactions in on-demand commerce.

Access will start narrowly. DoorDash is opening a waitlist for users in the United States to try the new feature. The company did not announce a date for general availability.

The AI agent was not the only item on Wednesday's agenda. DoorDash also announced that it will begin testing its delivery drones with select restaurants in Northern California. The drone pilot signals that the company is pressing on two automation fronts at once: software agents that take over the ordering process, and hardware that changes how food physically reaches the customer.

Taken together, the two announcements sketch DoorDash's bet on where delivery is heading — fewer taps for the customer on the front end, and fewer human touchpoints on the back end. If the agent performs as described, rivals Uber Eats and Grubhub will face pressure to answer with comparable conversational ordering tools of their own.