DoorDash, the San Francisco-based food and grocery delivery platform, has launched Ask DoorDash, an AI-powered chatbot that allows customers to describe what they want in plain language or upload photos to receive recommendations and place orders. The company announced the feature on Thursday as part of a broader push to reduce friction in the ordering process.
The chatbot is launching in select markets for grocery shopping and food delivery. Restaurant reservations and expansion to additional US cities are planned for the coming weeks. The feature is designed to replace menu browsing and search filters with a conversational interface that can account for user preferences and recent order history when making recommendations.
Andy Fang, Co-founder of DoorDash, described the intent behind the product: "We've spent over a decade building an app that puts everything in your city at your fingertips, but more options shouldn't mean more work. Now you can search DoorDash in your own words to find exactly what you want. And we know if the vegetarian option you prefer is on the menu before recommending a restaurant, or that you recently ordered flour and sugar before stocking up on groceries. The app works harder so you don't have to."
The launch follows a period of heavy investment at DoorDash. In May, the company introduced AI tools for merchants. It has also expanded into autonomous delivery technology including robots and completed two significant acquisitions: SevenRooms, a restaurant reservation platform, for $1.2 billion, and Deliveroo, a UK-based food delivery company, in a transaction valued at nearly $4 billion. Chief Financial Officer Ravi Inukonda told investors during the company's most recent earnings call that DoorDash is making progress on a technology overhaul and expects most of the associated spending to occur this year, according to CNBC.
That spending commitment has pressured the company's stock. DoorDash shares have fallen roughly 33 percent this year, compared with a gain of about 8 percent for the Nasdaq. The decline was sharpest after the company disclosed late last year that it planned to spend "several hundred million dollars" on new products and technology in 2026. At the time, DoorDash defended the investment with a statement that has since circulated widely: "We wish there was a way to grow a baby into an adult without investment, or to see the baby grow into an adult overnight. But we do not believe this is how life or business works."
DoorDash's move into conversational AI ordering puts it alongside competitors making similar investments. Earlier this year, Uber, the ride-sharing and delivery platform, launched an AI shopping assistant that uses photos and prompts to build grocery lists. Instacart, a grocery delivery platform, rolled out AI tools for grocers late last year. All three companies are betting that conversational interfaces will become the default way consumers interact with delivery platforms, with the competitive stakes now extending beyond speed and price to which platform controls the initial purchase decision.
