Avride’s sidewalk delivery bots land in Japan

Avride sidewalk bots will start delivering restaurant orders and groceries in central Tokyo this week through a partnership with e-commerce giant Rakuten, the latest commercial expansion by the Yandex spinout into Northeast Asia. The Austin-based autonomous vehicle startup is one of four projects under Nebius Group, a Netherlands-based company formerly called Yandex NV that sold off its Russian businesses in 2024 for about $5.2 billion. Since then, Avride has pressed forward with its autonomous vehicle technology development via its sidewalk bots and self-driving cars. And it’s made progress, notably by making deals with large corporations like Uber and now Japan’s Rakuten. Avride has a small commercial sidewalk delivery operation in Seoul, South Korea, and also tests its autonomous vehicles — which still have human safety drivers behind the wheel. Last year, the company started going through the lengthy certification process in Japan in a bid to expand its footprint in the region. ... Read full article.