How Zipline’s Drones Are Taking Off in the U.S. and Rivaling Amazon

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After flying 50 million miles and making over 1.4 million deliveries using autonomous drones, Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo Cliffton is looking to transform how same-day delivery works in the U.S. His company has spent years shipping medical supplies across countries like Rwanda, Ghana and Kenya. But will Zipline become a household name by flying burritos and salads to backyards in the U.S.? And how is the startup competing with tech giants like Amazon and Alphabet? Cliffton speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins on the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast. Check Out Past Episodes: Could Amazon’s Zoox Beat Tesla and Waymo in the Robotaxi Race? Palmer Luckey's 'I Told You So' Tour: AI Weapons and Vindication Humanoid Robot Startups Are Hot. This AI Expert Cuts Through the Hype. Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected] Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. The Drone-Delivery Service Beating Amazon to Your Front Door Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Race the rudder. Raise the sails. Raise the sales.
0:04.0	Captain, an unidentified chip approaching. Over.
0:07.0	Roger that. Wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?
0:12.0	Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.
0:16.0	With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more.
0:21.4	To get 100 pounds off your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com slash lead to claim your credit.
0:26.7	That's LinkedIn.com slash lead. Terms and conditions apply.
0:33.0	Hey Tim, what would you do if teleportation existed and you could get almost anything delivered to your door in the blink of an eye?
0:40.9	You mean I could get a burrito right now? Where do I sign up?
0:45.3	Sorry, man. Teleportation's still science fiction. But there's this delivery company that's trying to do the next best thing with drones.
0:53.4	It's already flown 50 million miles without human pilots and made over 1.4 million deliveries
0:59.3	in several different countries.
1:01.3	And its U.S. business is just growing.
1:04.0	And a little spoiler.
1:05.5	Its name doesn't rhyme with ShmamaZon.
1:09.5	That's next.
1:14.3	Over rhyme with ShmamaZon. That's next. Over 1,400,000.
1:17.5	That's how many fully autonomous deliveries, drone maker, Zipline, a company you've probably
1:22.9	never heard of, has made.
1:25.2	But that's because most of those deliveries are in Rwanda and neighboring
1:29.3	countries where the company has been delivering blood, vaccines, and other critical medical
1:34.3	supplies for years. But now they're coming to America in a big way. This year, they're going
	...

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