DoorDash is working on an AI chatbot to speed up food ordering

DoorDash Inc., the U.S. food-delivery service that competes with Uber Technologies Inc. and GrubHub, is looking to speed up ordering and help customers find food options with an artificial intelligence-based chatbot.

The company is working on a system called DashAI that it’s testing in a limited capacity in some markets. Evidence of the technology was first discovered in DoorDash’s iPhone app by developer Steve Moser and shared with Bloomberg News. 

The idea is to bring DoorDash into the AI era, allowing customers to get personalized restaurant recommendations with simple text prompts. If the software ultimately launches, it could give the company an edge over rivals, though some other apps — like Instacart —  are adding AI as well.

A DoorDash spokesman declined to comment on the feature. But Chief Executive Officer Tony Xu said during a conference call in May that the food-delivery company is “running different experiments internally.”