When Robots Deliver Dinner: Just Eat Pilots Legged AI Bots in Zurich

Late August 2025 saw a compelling leap in food delivery innovation: Just Eat Takeaway.com quietly dispatched a fleet of AI-powered, hybrid robots—part wheels, part legs—across the pedestrian paths of Zurich. These “robo‑dogs” are not just novel—they may redefine the final leg of food delivery.

Walking, Rolling, Delivering

The newly deployed bots are the first of their kind in Europe—a hybrid model combining wheels for flat navigation and legs for climbing curbs and stairs. This design allows them to handle real-world urban terrains without relying on ramps or human assistance.

Built to weather the weather—literally—these robots are engineered to perform reliably in rain, snow, high heat, and strong winds. At approximately 15 km/h, they ferry deliveries in a 40‑litre, spillage‑proof compartment, complete with internal partitioning for safety and order integrity.

The Technology Behind the Walk

These robots are guided by something called Physical AI, enabling them to “see” and interpret their surroundings—avoiding obstacles like garbage bins, grassy patches, pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. Every journey is tracked and managed from a monitoring center; the robots are equipped to halt automatically or via remote command during emergencies. Lights and a flag increase their visibility both day and night.

Real Meals, Real Streets

Unlike lab-based trials, this pilot is active and public. The robots deliver actual orders from the local Zurich restaurant Zekis World—a test of live traffic, live customers, and live urban logistics.

Zornitsa Chugreeva, Senior Global Innovation Director at Just Eat Takeaway.com, emphasizes the ambition: delivering everyday convenience via innovation that enhances the customer experience.

Marko Bjelonic, CEO of RIVR, describes the collaboration as a glimpse into a future where automation “blends naturally into our cities,” enabled by robots that truly understand and adapt to their surroundings.

Broader Strategy—and What’s Next

This effort builds on Just Eat’s broader push into automated delivery. Earlier this year, they began drone delivery trials in Ireland with Manna, suggesting a layered, context-specific strategy: drones for open skies, legged bots for dense urban streets—planned expansions into retail and convenience store deliveries are already on the horizon.

With continued success in Zurich, more European rollouts are expected before year’s end.

Why It Matters
Just Eat’s robotic delivery pilot isn’t just a technical stunt—it’s a tangible sign of the future of urban logistics. As autonomous systems evolve to handle real-world complexity—stairs, curbs, unpredictable pedestrians—they’re inching closer to becoming a seamless part of everyday life.