Sep 18, 2026
Meet Noah: The AI Robot Delivering Your Next Meal w/ Steve Burns of NoTip
- AZ TRT S07 EP15 (297) 9-13-2026
What We Learned This Week
Food delivery may be ready for a robotics makeover.
NoTip is testing a model where an EV gets the food close to the customer's home and an autonomous robot completes the final delivery.
The expensive part of a delivery isn't necessarily the food—it's the last mile.
Restaurants and consumers can face significant costs from today's delivery model. NoTip is trying to use automation and EVs to change that equation.
Physical AI is moving into the real world.
LiDAR, cameras, GPS, sonar and RTK positioning allow robots to understand and navigate physical environments—not just digital ones.
The EV revolution isn't just about cars.
Purpose-built electric vehicles can be dramatically smaller and lighter than conventional cars, potentially changing the economics of businesses that operate fleets all day.
The future of autonomous delivery may involve two vehicles—not one.
The delivery vehicle gets the order to the neighborhood, while a smaller robot handles the final few yards to the front door. That combination could allow companies to rethink how the entire delivery process works.
Guest: Steve Burns — Founder, NoTip
Stephen S. Burns is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive with more than three decades of experience building disruptive companies across automotive, electric vehicles, telecommunications, and software. He is the founder of Lordstown Motors, where he served as Chairman and CEO, leading the acquisition and transformation of the former General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant into an electric vehicle manufacturing facility. He also founded Workhorse Group (NASDAQ: WKHS), an early pioneer in commercial electric vehicles and last-mile delivery technology, helping lay the foundation for today's commercial EV market.
Prior to his work in electric mobility, Burns founded Mobile Voice Control, a pioneering speech recognition software company for smartphones that was acquired by Nuance
Communications. Throughout his career, he has successfully founded, scaled, and exited multiple technology ventures, commercializing innovative products that have advanced mobile communications, enterprise software, and transportation technologies. He is widely recognized for identifying emerging technologies and transforming them into industry-leading businesses.
Company:
NoTip
Location: Mason,
Ohio, outside Cincinnati
Industry:
Autonomous vehicles / Physical AI / Food delivery / EV
technology
NoTip is transforming food delivery in Mason, Ohio
NoTip is redefining food delivery in Mason Ohio. We operate as a 3rd party delivery platform. We feature local restaurants on our platform and then use electric vehicles driven by our uniformed team members combined with and our specially designed robots to pick up your food and deliver it to your doorstep.
This approach enables dramatically lower costs, faster service, and greater reliability- while removing common pain points like tipping, hidden fees, food markups, and concerns around strangers on your doorstep.
Simple, Sleek, Easy-To-Use App
Order your favorite food in seconds with NoTip’s powerful, east-to-use app. Order from your favorite local restaurants and track your delivery in real time as our uniformed team member and advanced robotic system brings your food directly to your doorstep. No tipping, no food mark-ups—just seamless, reliable delivery at the tap of a button. Download the NoTip app today and experience the future of food delivery.
Segment 1 — Meet Noah: The Robot Changing Food Delivery
- Steve Burns introduces NoTip, a new autonomous food-delivery company operating out of Mason, Ohio.
- The company has spent approximately four years in stealth mode developing its technology.
- NoTip officially went live in the summer of 2026.
- The company's technology centers around Noah, an autonomous delivery robot built in-house.
- Noah is an example of what Steve describes as Physical AI—AI that doesn't just exist in software but interacts with the physical world.
- The company is essentially taking on the traditional food-delivery model represented by companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats.
- Customers order through an app and pay before the delivery.
- Instead of a gig worker delivering the order, NoTip uses autonomous vehicles and robots.
- The initial focus is suburban food delivery.
- The basic proposition is simple: people are willing to pay for convenience.
- Steve uses Uber as an example of how consumers have demonstrated that they'll pay for convenience when the service solves a problem.
- NoTip's future delivery system combines:
- An autonomous EV
- Noah, the smaller autonomous robot
- The robot carrying the food from the vehicle to the customer's home
- The delivery vehicle can deploy the robot using a ramp.
- Noah uses a combination of:
- LiDAR
- Sonar
- GPS
- Cameras
- Mapping technology
- The robot has gone through thousands of modifications and improvements during development.
- Current testing includes a safety driver behind the wheel who can take over and make the delivery if the autonomous system encounters a problem.
The Technology Business
- Steve points out the enormous valuations attached to technology-driven companies.
- DoorDash has reached a market capitalization far larger than many traditional vehicle manufacturers.
- His larger point: the software and technology layer can be more valuable than the physical vehicle itself.
- NoTip's concept is designed to be easy for consumers to understand:
- The delivery vehicle comes to your neighborhood.
- A small robot gets out.
- The robot takes your food to the door.
- Steve compares the concept to the familiar infrastructure of a UPS delivery fleet—but with autonomous technology replacing much of the human delivery process.
Why Does Food Delivery Cost So Much?
The NoTip Model
- NoTip plans to charge a flat $6 delivery fee.
- Traditional food-delivery services can charge restaurants significant fees, sometimes approaching 30%, depending on the arrangement.
- Those costs can ultimately be reflected in higher menu prices and delivery costs for consumers.
- Steve believes the current food-delivery model has become too expensive for restaurants, consumers and other participants in the food ecosystem.
- Automation could potentially change the economics of last-mile delivery.
EV Economics
- Electric vehicles have substantially lower energy costs than gasoline-powered vehicles.
- Lower operating costs become particularly important in a delivery business where vehicles may operate for many hours every day.
- Amazon has already demonstrated the use of electric delivery vans through its Rivian fleet.
- NoTip is looking beyond conventional delivery vans toward smaller, purpose-built EVs.
The Future NoTip Vehicle
- Steve envisions a future NoTip delivery vehicle that could be a three-wheel EV, more similar to a large motorcycle than a traditional automobile.
- The goal is to make the vehicle:
- Lightweight
- Efficient
- Less expensive to operate
- Purpose-built for delivery
- A lighter vehicle requires less energy to move, potentially helping reduce operating costs.
Why Automation Could Matter
- Steve discusses some of the challenges and safety concerns associated with the current gig-worker delivery model.
- NoTip's objective is to create a delivery system that emphasizes consistency, safety and efficiency.
- The technology isn't simply about eliminating a driver—it is about redesigning the entire last-mile delivery process.
Segment 2 — From EVs to Robots
Steve Burns' EV Background
Steve brings significant experience from the electric-vehicle industry.
His background includes work with companies such as:
- Workhorse
- Lordstown Motors
His experience gives him an understanding of:
- EV development
- Manufacturing
- Supply chains
- Automotive regulations
- Vehicle technology
- The challenges of bringing new transportation technology to market
Lordstown Motors
- Steve discusses the bankruptcy of Lordstown Motors.
- He subsequently acquired intellectual property and physical assets from the company.
- That included EV-related assets and vehicles that could be useful in developing future technology.
NoTip's Current Vehicles
- The company is experimenting with multiple prototype configurations.
- Some of the current vehicles are modified BMW i3s.
- These conventional vehicles weigh roughly 2,000 pounds.
- Steve discusses future vehicles that could be much lighter.
- One concept is approximately 1,500 pounds, including the battery.
- The battery system is designed to provide roughly 10 hours of operating time.
Building the Robot
- Noah has gone through multiple prototype versions.
- The team has learned from putting the robots into real-world environments.
- One of the challenges is that a robot can't assume every customer's property looks the same.
- It needs to navigate things such as:
- Rakes
- Landscaping
- Driveways
- Sidewalks
- Other obstacles
- The robot can also be modified for different environments, including the use of snow tires for winter conditions.
The Technology Behind Noah
Noah combines several technologies to understand its environment.
Sensors
- LiDAR
- Sonar
- Cameras
- GPS
- Optical sensors
The vehicle and robot use these systems to understand and map their surroundings.
RTK — Real-Time Kinematic Positioning
Steve discusses RTK, or Real-Time Kinematic positioning.
The technology can dramatically improve location accuracy and allow the system to map an area with extremely high precision—down to approximately the centimeter level under suitable conditions.
That matters when a robot needs to know:
"Exactly where am I on this property?"
rather than simply:
"I'm somewhere near this address."
A Bigger Robotics Trend
- Steve points out that similar technology is being used in other industries.
- One example is autonomous robotic lawnmowers.
- As sensors, computing power and other components become less expensive, technologies that once required expensive R&D can become commercially practical.
- NoTip is essentially applying some of those technologies to food delivery.
Segment 3 - How Does an Autonomous Delivery Actually Work?
Getting to the House
- Google Maps can be used to determine the vehicle's driving route.
- The vehicle handles the trip from the restaurant to the customer's neighborhood.
- The robot then handles the final portion of the delivery on the customer's property.
Current Regulatory Approach
- During the current testing phase, there is still a driver behind the wheel of the autonomous vehicle.
- This allows NoTip to operate within the existing regulatory framework while testing its autonomous technology.
- The robot itself operates on the customer's property after receiving permission.
Customer Permission
Customers agree to allow the robot onto their property through the NoTip app.
The system can collect information such as:
- Email address
- Phone number
- Property permission
This creates a defined interaction between the customer and the autonomous delivery system.
What's Next for NoTip?
- NoTip is currently testing and refining its technology.
- The company expects to continue improving both the robot and the vehicle platform.
- Future plans include:
- Additional cities
- Purpose-built EVs
- More autonomous robots
- Expanded manufacturing capabilities
- Steve discusses eventually building a 22,000-square-foot facility for manufacturing and development.
- That facility could support production of the company's three-wheel EV and robotic delivery systems.
- Phoenix is one city Steve has identified as a potential future market.
- NoTip expects to announce its next city in fall 2026.
The Bigger Idea
The roads and delivery infrastructure already exist.
Consumers already:
- Order food through apps
- Pay electronically
- Expect delivery
- Pay for convenience
The question becomes:
Can technology make the last mile faster, safer and less expensive?
That's the problem NoTip is trying to solve.
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