DoorDash, which processed 970 million orders and generated $4.5 billion in revenue in its second quarter, is taking notice of a 10-person startup called Bites. In August, DoorDash sent a form letter to Bay Area restaurants warning that they may be listed on Bites without their consent, citing concerns about terms, pricing, and service standards. Bites says 14 of its restaurant partners received the letter, and some restaurants that were not listed on Bites also got it.
Bites is an "AI native" delivery platform: customers can place orders through ChatGPT, and orders go directly to the restaurant rather than through a third-party marketplace. The startup charges a flat $1 surcharge per order, compared with DoorDash's restaurant commissions of 15 to 30 percent. Bites cofounder Matt Maloney, who also cofounded Grubhub, argues that larger platforms' pricing structures are outdated.
One early adopter, Jay Jayaraman, who runs 13 restaurants on Bites, says the shift has been dramatic: 80 percent of his orders previously came from DoorDash, but now 65 percent come through Bites, with higher margins. The episode illustrates what The Verge calls "the DoorDash problem": if consumers increasingly interact with the internet through AI agents rather than apps and websites, platforms like DoorDash lose control over discovery, ads, and upselling. Amazon has already sued Perplexity over agentic browsing and shopping, and has blocked Meta's AI agent from its site.
The source notes that DoorDash's warning could be seen as proactive protection of restaurant partners, but the timing and target suggest a broader battle. The article does not include a response from DoorDash to the specific claims about the letters, and it does not independently verify Jayaraman's order-share figures. The broader point, however, is clear: AI agents are beginning to challenge the business model of app-based marketplaces, and the fight is already here.