Your next Uber Eats order might not show up on a scooter — it might drop out of the sky instead. Uber and drone logistics company Zipline have announced a partnership, and according to a press release from Uber, the goal the two companies have set is to hit 1 million drone deliveries a day by the end of 2029. That number looks especially wild next to where they're actually starting: the first rollout is happening in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a town of fewer than 6,000 people, plus the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area — both markets where Zipline already operates in the US. Expansion to dozens more cities will come after that.
Uber has also made a strategic investment in Zipline as part of the deal, though the amount hasn't been disclosed. Before teaming up with Uber, Zipline had already partnered with Walmart and Chipotle on food and retail delivery, racking up more than 2.7 million deliveries covering everything from medical supplies to meals.
Worth noting: this isn't Uber's first bet on drone delivery. Back in 2025, Uber partnered with another drone company, Flytrex, to offer a similar service through Uber Eats. Beyond delivery, Uber is also working with Lucid and Momenta on the robotaxi front, building out its self-driving ride-hail lineup. In other words, Zipline is really just another chip Uber's stacking on the drone delivery table — not the only bet on the board.
In this race, the Uber-Zipline combo is going head-to-head with DoorDash and Wing, a pairing that's been at it since 2022 and recently expanded service to the Atlanta metro area. Whether Uber can actually scale up from a pilot in a tiny town to 1 million daily orders in four years remains to be seen — for now, all we have is a timeline, with no further details.
