Miami, FL

Self-driving robots becoming popular for food delivery service in Miami as residents share mixed feelings

Published

3 months ago

December 2, 2025

Self-driving robots becoming popular for food delivery service in Miami as residents share mixed feelings

They’re the delivery drivers who don’t say much when they drop off your food. Despite their lack of conversation skills, self-driving robots are taking over the streets of Miami.

Yet, some residents have mixed feelings about them.

“I find them to be a little bit annoying, inconvenient,” said Isabella Priest, who lives in the area.

“I like the robots because if you didn’t have the robots, you would have a million bicycle riders from Grubhub,” said Susan, who also lives in the area.

Technology is changing the food service landscape

Serve Robotics Inc. is one of the companies providing their AI-operated, self-driving delivery robots for service in South Florida.

“Everything is fully integrated through the Uber Eats app. Once you get to the check-out page of the merchant, there is a toggle that, as the consumer, you have the power to turn on or off,” Partnership manager Los Nevarez said. “If you leave it on, you have the possibility of getting matched with a robot for your delivery. If you are someone who tips in advance, once you get that robot delivery, you get that tip refunded to you.”

There’s no one operating these robots; they get around on their own.

“It is the computer on board, the AI that’s making the driving decisions. So, it’s taking data from all its different sensors, it’s five cameras, all of these different sensors are providing it that safe path to traverse throughout the city,” said Nevarez.

These robots operate on the sidewalks, can cross streets and typically travel 3 to 5 mph.

They only deliver to places that are no more than 1.25 miles from the restaurant.

Some restaurants seeing a boost in business

Merchants like Rice Mediterranean say the robots have boosted their business substantially.

“It’s a lot, more than a hundred orders daily,” said Pierre El Kossaifi, general manager at Rice Mediterranean.

Once the merchant loads the food into the robot, the door locks, and it’s on its way to its destination.

The person who orders it gets a notification on their phone to unlock it. You press the button on the robot, then dinner is served.

The serve robots operate off an 18-hour battery, and when you see them congregated together, they’re still “on the clock.”

Mixed reviews

They’re the delivery drivers of the future, but they’re here today, despite mixed feelings about their existence.

“They’re bad, they should take them away! They contest the sidewalk,” said Mohamad Alrasheed.

“I like them. I don’t think they’ve gotten in the way or stopped a lot of traffic or anything like that. The more robotic and new age we get, that’s just what it’s going to be,” said Nick Cavil.

If the robots do get stuck, there is an operator who is alerted to help navigate them out.

For more information about these robots and how they operate, check out https://www.serverobotics.com.

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Miami, FL

Detroit Pistons torched by Miami Heat for fourth straight loss

Published

9 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Pistons torched by Miami Heat for fourth straight loss

The Detroit Pistons’ slide continues.

They fell to the Miami Heat on the road, 121-110, on Sunday, March 8. It’s their fourth-consecutive loss – their first time dropping four in a row since opening the 2024-25 season 0-4. The Pistons (45-18) looked a step slow in the second half of a back-to-back, less than 24 hours after hosting the Brooklyn Nets at home Saturday.

Cade Cunningham returned from a one-game absence and carried the offense with 26 points and 10 assists. Jalen Duren also had a strong line, with 24 points and five rebounds. It was a poor night for the rest of the roster, as the Pistons shot 11-for-37 (29.7%) from 3. It also was a poor defensive night, as Detroit allowed Miami to shoot 47.3% overall and score 103 points through the first three quarters.

Ausar Thompson (right ankle sprain) missed his second straight game. The Miami Heat were led by Tyler Herro (25 points) and Bam Adebayo (24 points, nine rebounds, six assists).

The loss drops the Pistons (47-18) to just 2½ games up on the Boston Celtics – who have gotten a big boost from the return of Jayson Tatum – in the East. Still, even with the skid, the Pistons have a 6½ game lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers as they go for their first Central Division title since 2007-08.

Next up for the Pistons

The Pistons will get a chance to avenge Saturday night’s 23-point collapse as they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra). The Nets are contenders only for a top lottery pick. After that, the Pistons return home for a pair of games, against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday and the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

Pistons’ defensive slide continues

Defense has been the biggest driver of the Pistons’ success this season. But they’ve slipped since the All-Star break, and their losing streak reflects it.

The Heat’ century mark through the first three quarters marked an uncharacteristically poor showing for a team that’s held the second-best defensive rating for most of the season. The Heat did so while shooting 48.6% overall, and committing just four turnovers against a Pistons team that leads the league in steals.

Entering Sunday, the Pistons were a mere ninth in defensive rating in nine games since All-Star weekend. Their backslide started before Thompson’s injury, but his absence has accelerated it. They have given up at least 30 points in five consecutive quarters, dating back to Saturday’s fourth quarter against Brooklyn in which they surrendered 34 points.

Cunningham takes over after slow start

The Pistons took the floor roughly 20 hours after they wrapped up Saturday’s loss to the Nets, with a cross-country flight sandwiched in-between. In the first quarter, they came out flat and endured one of their worst starts of the season.

They trailed the Heat 34-16 by the end of the period, after knocking down just six of 22 field goal attempts (27.3%) and one of nine 3-pointers. Duren opened the game with a dunk at the 11:28 mark. More than five minutes passed before the next bucket – an alley-oop dunk for Duren from Cunningham – with 7:07 to go.

Cunningham was aggressive and responsible for the bulk of the Pistons’ offensive production by halftime. He scored 13 points and dished out five assists on 5-for-7 shooting in the second quarter, and scored or assisted 23 of their first 30 points.

He led a 10-2 Pistons run to open the second quarter and cut an 18-point deficit to 10, the closest they got the rest of the way. It included a pair of 3-pointers, the second a stepback over Adebayo. Cunningham powered a second run at the end of the second, finishing an off-balance euro step hook and another stepback 3-pointer over Adebayo, and two assists to Duren for two dunks, within the final 2:17.

The two-man game between Cunningham and Duren was the only consistent production the Pistons could generate. They combined for nearly half of their total offense — 50 points on 19-for-30 overall shooting. The rest of the roster combined shot 19-for-60 (31.7%).

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.

[ MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live on YouTube. ]

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Miami, FL

Detroit faces Miami on 3-game skid

Published

21 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Pistons (45-17, first in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (35-29, seventh in the Eastern Conference)

Miami; Sunday, 6 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Pistons -1.5; over/under is 229.5

BOTTOM LINE: Detroit enters the matchup with Miami as losers of three straight games.

The Heat are 19-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami is second in the NBA averaging 120.1 points and is shooting 46.5% from the field.

The Pistons have gone 30-9 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit ranks third in the league with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game led by Jalen Duren averaging 3.9.

The 120.1 points per game the Heat average are 10.5 more points than the Pistons give up (109.6). The Pistons average 10.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.0 fewer made shots on average than the 13.8 per game the Heat allow.

The teams meet for the third time this season. The Heat won 118-112 in the last matchup on Jan. 2. Norman Powell led the Heat with 36 points, and Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 31 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Andrew Wiggins is scoring 15.9 points per game and averaging 5.1 rebounds for the Heat. Bam Adebayo is averaging 21.9 points and 10.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Cunningham is averaging 25.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.5 steals for the Pistons. Duncan Robinson is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 7-3, averaging 122.5 points, 49.2 rebounds, 28.3 assists, 8.2 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.8 points per game.

Pistons: 6-4, averaging 114.0 points, 48.5 rebounds, 25.8 assists, 10.2 steals and 7.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.8 points.

INJURIES: Heat: Nikola Jovic: out (back), Andrew Wiggins: day to day (toe), Norman Powell: out (groin), Simone Fontecchio: out (groin).

Pistons: Ausar Thompson: day to day (ankle), Cade Cunningham: day to day (quadriceps).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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