While food-delivery robots are spreading quickly across American cities, they are facing unexpected public hostility.
- Rapid growth: Thousands of small delivery robots from companies like Serve Robotics, Coco, and Starship now operate in U.S. cities, using AI to navigate streets and deliver food.
- Efficiency benefits: They could reduce traffic, cut delivery costs, support local economies, and are far more energy-efficient than cars for short “last-mile” trips.
- Public backlash: Many people react negatively, kicking, tipping over, or even destroying the robots. Complaints include nuisance, safety concerns, and resentment over automation replacing human jobs.
- Cultural resistance: Americans appear particularly uneasy about AI in daily life, and hostility toward robots isn’t new.
- Company response: Firms try to make robots more friendly (names, “eyes,” polite movement), and emphasize that most deliveries succeed without incident.
- Outlook: Despite their advantages, robots must adapt to unpredictable human behavior in the “real world,” which remains their biggest challenge.
Delivery robots are efficient and growing fast, but social acceptance—not technology—is the main obstacle.
This is a summary of an article in The Economist February 21st 2026.
Nick Szwed
