Pizza Delivery Gears Up for a Driverless Era

The Domino's announcement came on the heels of Yum Brands Inc.'s YUM -0.27% Pizza Hut joining sides with Toyota Motor Corp. TM 0.95% in a similar robot-car pact. The partnerships were touted by car companies looking for any edge in the development of driverless vehicles that could transform the way people get around and take deliveries in cities around the world. For the pizza companies, they're a way to keep up with technology that could make deliveries cheaper and more efficient, potential benefits that have caught the attention of companies in a range of businesses. Most visions of driverless cars have highlighted robot taxis. But many experts are starting to see around-town deliveries as an especially promising arena for driverless cars, and it may even develop sooner than robot taxis.