DoorDash launched a standalone "Tasks" app on March 19, turning its gig workforce into a distributed data collection network for AI and robotics companies.

What It Does

The app lets Dashers — DoorDash's delivery couriers — earn extra income by completing short physical and digital assignments unrelated to food delivery. Tasks include filming everyday activities like washing dishes while wearing a body camera, recording unscripted conversations in other languages, or capturing photos of storefronts and hotel entrances.

"This data helps AI and robotic systems understand the physical world," DoorDash wrote in its announcement. "Pay is shown upfront and determined based on effort and complexity of the activity."

Who Benefits

The original footage goes to DoorDash's own AI models and to partner companies in retail, insurance, hospitality, and technology. The initiative also includes DoorDash's existing Waymo partnership, where Dashers are paid to close the doors of self-driving cars — now formalized as an in-app Task.

The Scale Opportunity

DoorDash is positioning its 8 million Dashers as a logistics advantage for physical world data. "There are more than 8 million Dashers who can reach almost anywhere in the U.S.," said Ethan Beatty, general manager of DoorDash Tasks. "That's a powerful capability to digitize the physical world."

The Tasks app and in-app Tasks are available in select U.S. markets, excluding California, New York City, Seattle, and Colorado.

DoorDash is not alone in this approach. Uber announced a similar data-labeling side income option for its drivers in late 2025, signaling that gig delivery networks are becoming a key source of real-world training data for AI systems.