Delivery robots with Russian ties pulled from 2 US campuses
Two U.S. university campuses are losing their food-delivery robots for now because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two U.S. university campuses are losing their food-delivery robots for now because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Grubhub said Thursday that it is ending its partnership with Russian tech company Yandex and pulling 100 Yandex-made food-delivery robots from the campuses of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Chicago-based Grubhub said it is working with both campuses to find alternatives.
Grubhub had been using the robots to deliver food on campus at Ohio State since August. The company launched robot delivery at the University of Arizona last November. The company says it was doing 1,000 deliveries a day between the two campuses.
Yandex is Russia’s largest internet search and ride-hailing company. Toby Snuggs, head of sales for the Yandex Self-Driving Group, confirmed the split with Grubhub and said the robots will be sent to other locations outside the U.S. where Yandex has operations.
“It is a real shame that we can’t continue with this great project we embarked on in the U.S. campus space with Grubhub as we all know it was having a really positive impact to the student body,” Snuggs said.
Earlier this week, ride-hailing giant Uber said it was trying to speed up a planned divestment of its shares in Yandex.Taxi, Yandex's mobility business. Uber holds a 29% stake in Yandex.Taxi, worth about $800 million. Uber said three of its executives who were on Yandex.Taxi's board have also resigned.
In a regulatory filing Thursday, Yandex noted that the Moscow-based company and its executives haven't been targeted with specific sanctions because Yandex doesn't operate in the defense, aerospace or maritime sectors.
The Nasdaq stock exchange suspended trading of Yandex shares last week.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.