Uber also said it was making a strategic investment in Zipline, a California-based company that has been orchestrating drone deliveries in Texas since 2025. The news comes as Uber’s delivery rivals begin to step up their own drone deliveries, thanks to easing government regulations that allow companies to fly farther and cheaper.
The Uber Eats deliveries will start in Zipline’s existing market of Dallas-Fort Worth, before eventually expanding to dozens of additional cities. Zipline, which has made two million deliveries so far, also operates overseas, including Rwanda, Ghana, Japan, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kenya. The company first started operations in Rwanda in 2016, delivering medical supplies in minutes to remote locations. The deal is similar to one Uber made with drone company Flytrex last year, which also included an investment by the ridehail giant.
Uber says that Zipline’s drones can bring a customer’s order to their front lawn in a “matter of minutes.” The company claims it is building the world’s largest hybrid network of human couriers, sidewalk robots, and drones, in which customers are matched with the best, most efficient method of delivery, depending on where they live.
Thanks to a 2025 order from President Donald Trump, the FAA has proposed new rules to expand the deployment of drone delivery operations. As such, drone operators are scrambling to secure partnerships with grocery chains and major retailers in the hopes of claiming their share of what could be $7.7 billion market by 2031, according to one analysis.