Basically no one is using AI agents for their DoorDash orders (arstechnica.com)

Despite the growing presence of AI tools in various sectors, their integration into the DoorDash food delivery service remains minimal. In a recent earnings call, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu revealed that AI agents only generated a few hundred orders since their introduction, which is surprisingly low compared to the nearly 1 billion total orders placed in the third quarter of 2026. This raises questions about the practicality and immediate relevance of AI agents for simple tasks like food ordering, which Xu suggests are typically handled directly by consumers. The limited usage can be attributed to the recent rollout of DoorDash's Model Context Protocol (MCP) connector—a standardized method that allows third-party AI tools to interface with their platform. Currently, this feature is still in early beta and primarily facilitates corporate orders. As the technology matures and becomes more widely accessible, there may be potential for AI agents to streamline more complex purchasing processes; however, for everyday transactions like food delivery, consumers appear to prefer traditional methods, suggesting a need for further innovation in user-friendly AI applications.