Instacart characterized these abuses as rare in a statement to Engadget, saying that tips stay the same or climb higher for “99.5% of orders” and that tip-based earnings have “nearly doubled” since the COVID-19 pandemic started. You can read the full statement below. The company didn’t directly address instances where tip baiting has happened or say if it would adjust behavior. It does have a few mild measures in place to discourage zeroing out tips, however, such as forcing customers to manually set the tip to $0 and setting the default to at least 5 percent even if it was lower for the last order.

It’s a complex situation. The ability to change tips after delivery is commonplace among grocery and restaurant delivery apps, and is meant to protect customers against shoddy service. Instacart shoppers, for example, are theoretically more likely to treat you well if they know you could reduce their tip. However, many of these app-based workers also depend on tips to make a decent living — the absence of a guarantee for their tips could leave them in financial distress. If the FTC intervenes, it may have to strike a careful balance where it both protects workers and gives customers a way to address poor service.

“Our goal is to deliver a high-quality experience for both customers and shoppers. By allowing customers to tip after delivery based on their overall service, we see shopper tips increase or stay the same on 99.5% of orders. Additionally, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in North America, shoppers’ earnings from tips have nearly doubled. Tips are always separate from any Instacart earnings and all tips go directly to the shopper.”

The program kicks off this quarter (that is, no later than March). Waymo had already grown its AutoNation deal to include a car part delivery test in 2019. UPS has been busy, too, having just ordered 10,000 electric trucks from Arrival for crewed deliveries.

The two see this as part of a “long-term plan” to explore how they can cooperate. There’s no guarantee that will involve a self-driving courier rolling up to your door, but that wouldn’t be surprising when UPS is already using drones to deliver medicine. For now, the benefits are more modest. UPS sees this moving packages out of stores more frequently, increasing the chances that your package will reach its destination on time and freeing up space in the stores themselves.

Tests with backup drivers will require proof of relevant testing under controlled conditions, trained drivers with clean records and timely reports for collisions and human interventions. Completely driverless tests, meanwhile, will also require notifiying authorities, a certified link to a remote operator, a police “interaction plan” and verification that the cars meet federal safety standards as well as truly autonomous (Level 4 or 5) capabilities. Full-fledged public use will require still more, including vehicle data recorders, certified resistance to cyberattacks, assurances that it’s safe to deploy and the ability to share vehicle owner and operator info in the event of a crash.

The DMV can start approving permits in 30 days, or around January 17th, 2020.

There are already companies lining up. Nuro, known for its completely driverless courier vehicles, has signaled its intent to apply for a permit. This could also help Ford and others test autonomous delivery in the state. This also steps up pressure on Waymo. While it’s focused on passengers rather than produce, it’s currently the only company with a permit to test fully driverless vehicles in California. Once permits for delivery vehicles are available, it’ll have to share the road with potential rivals.

As the vehicle operates on six degrees of movement instead of four, it’s overall more stable and better suited to coping with gusts of wind. AI plays a crucial role, too. It can avoid unexpected obstacles (including moving ones), of course, but it should also be adept at spotting wires that drones are more likely to miss, such as power lines or the clothesline in your backyard.

Amazon is still aiming for drones with a 15-mile range and an ability to haul packages under 5lbs to customers within 30 minutes. It’s hoping drones will not only deliver packages faster, but reduce the firm’s environmental impact by encouraging people to stay at home.

You may need to temper your expectations. There’s no mention of when you could expect broadly available service, and that’s still highly dependent on regulators clearing the way for delivery drones. Also, Amazon has yet to fully tackle the social and technological hurdles these drones face, such as the irritation of drone noise or the challenges of flying in the rain. This represents a clear step closer to Amazon’s goal, but not much more than that.