OtherReplaces Human LaborVerified
Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 22, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.
Walmart delivers orders using drones and self-driving trucks that operate without a human driver. Drone delivery is available near 270-plus Walmart stores and is on track to reach 40 million Americans. In 2021, Walmart and an autonomous trucking company called Gatik completed the world's first fully driverless commercial delivery route, with no safety driver in the cab.
Details
Walmart's drone delivery partnership is primarily with Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Google's parent company). In January 2026, Wing and Walmart announced an expansion adding 150 new store locations — the largest drone delivery expansion ever announced — bringing service to cities including Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Miami. Walmart has recorded more than 150,000 successful drone deliveries since 2021. Drone deliveries typically cover grocery staples, household essentials, over-the-counter medicines, and small electronics. Walmart also partnered with Zipline for drone delivery in select markets. For autonomous truck delivery, Walmart's collaboration with Gatik began in 2019 in Bentonville, Arkansas, and achieved fully driverless (no safety driver) commercial middle-mile deliveries in August 2021. Walmart previously sold its stake in drone delivery company DroneUp in January 2025.
Products affected
Online grocery orders and household essentials for select customers near participating store locations
Sources & Evidence
Company Disclosure
Other practices by Walmart
OtherWalmart is piloting an AI tool that simulates a job interview for candidates applying to work at the company. It walks applicants through up to 10 practice questions, scores each response on a scale of 1 to 10, and gives instant feedback on how clearly and confidently the person answered. The pilot began in June 2025 with current Walmart employees and was planned to expand to all applicants.OtherWalmart uses AI software to plan the most efficient routes for its delivery trucks, figure out how to pack trailers to minimize wasted space, and cut unnecessary miles from its logistics network. Walmart says this eliminated 30 million unnecessary miles and avoided 94 million pounds of CO₂ emissions. The company now sells this same routing technology to other businesses as a commercial software product.OtherWalmart is using a robotic system made by a company called Symbotic to automate its regional distribution centers. Fleets of autonomous robots receive products from suppliers, store them, retrieve them, and build sorted loads ready for stores — work that was previously done largely by human warehouse workers. More than 60% of U.S. Walmart stores now receive at least some of their stock from an automated distribution center.
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