The global chain has dropped pies from the skies with drones. It's working to let you order from any gadget you can hook up to the internet. It launched an artificial intelligence platform. Starting today, when the hungry masses in Hamburg, Germany order from Domino's, it may not be a fellow in a car or on a bike making the delivery, but an autonomous, cooler-sized machine, casually rolling down the sidewalk. In a world where delivery giants like Amazon and UPS are racing toward high-flying drone deliveries, this robot reads more'cute' than'future.'

People on the streets of London, Düsseldorf, Bern, and other European cities will soon see robots rolling along the sidewalk to deliver prepared food, parcels, and retail goods to nearby customers. Starship Technologies, a robotics company launched two years ago by Skype cofounders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, says it plans to announce on Wednesday four industry partners that will be testing its delivery robots: Just Eat, a European food delivery company; Hermes, a German parcel delivery company (not to be confused with the similarly named French luxury goods maker); Metro Group, a major German retailer; and Pronto.co.uk, a food delivery service based in London. The four companies later this month will begin tests with real customers to assess the viability of automated product deliveries. A similar program is being developed for cities in the US. Starship has been conducting proof-of-concept tests without real customers for the past nine months.

If they come bearing hot French fries and gooey pizza, I, for one, will welcome our new robot overlords with open arms. The artificial intelligence revolution is one step closer to that reality in Europe, where a food delivery service, a package delivery company, and a retail chain are testing out autonomous robot couriers. Food delivery companies Just Eat and Pronto will be trying out the self-driving robots in London, while Germain retail chain Metro AG and German parcel delivery company Hermes will test them out in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Bern, Switzlerland, as well as another undisclosed German city, says the robot's maker, Starship Technologies. Starship Technologies, a London-based company started by two Skype co-founders, has been testing the so-called "ground drones" in Europe over the last nine months, but these trials will mark the first time businesses will be using the technology to deliver real orders to paying customers, Allan Martinson, Starship's chief operating officer tells Bloomberg. Each company's trial will involve anywhere between five and 10 robots in one or two areas of each city.

This week, federal regulators rolled out new rules for unmanned flying vehicles, in a first step that helps pave the way for drones to start delivering packages to your door. But because of a federal no-fly zone, drones are prohibited in the D.C. area. So the nation's capital is finding a workaround. In a unanimous vote Thursday, the District of Columbia's city council gave the green light for an Estonian company to start testing its ground-based robot delivery technology right on the sidewalks. The move represents the first time ground-based drones have been approved for testing anywhere in the country, according to the company, Starship Technologies.

A brood of sidewalk drones could be rolling around the nation's capital within a year, if a District of Columbia Council member has her way. Executives from Starship Technologies, with roots in Estonia and London, say their goal is to unleash a platoon of "smart, friendly robots" that will ply sidewalks along with pedestrians to make local deliveries of groceries or small packages "almost free." The company is led by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, and launched the effort in November. Councilwoman Mary Cheh and company officials sought to make a splash by promising one of the squat vehicles on Wednesday would deliver legislation to the council authorizing self-driving delivery robots. The little white device, which looks like an ice chest rolling on six wagon wheels, did indeed scoot its way into Council Secretary Nyasha Smith's office with the three-page bill in its compartment and reporters on its tail.

In the near future, if you need a few things from Amazon, or perhaps you forgot to pick up the dry cleaning, there's a chance a small robot will deliver your goods right to your front door. No, this won't be a drone dropping something from the skies. A six-wheeled robot from Starship Technologies, run by the founders of Skype, will soon be making deliveries without those complicated autonomous drone systems touted by Amazon and Google. Starship's little robots are already making deliveries in London, and they will likely be rolling around US streets soon. Lauri Väin, Starship's engineering lead, said during last week's RoboUniverse conference in New York City, that the company has 10 prototype robots, and plans to have 100 by the end of the year, and over 1,000 next year.