Who do we cheer for when AI disrupts something that's already terrible?
Restaurants have paid DoorDash ungodly amounts of cash to be seen over the years.
Now a startup called Bites in the Bay Area lets people order straight from ChatGPT, with the order going directly to the restaurant. No sponsored listings, no 15–30% cut. No one paying $45 for a medium cheese pizza. The Verge has the full story, and it's worth a read.
In an AI-ordering world, the customer just says "get me dinner from [xyz]." If they don't already know your name, you don't get picked.
Brand awareness matters more, not less. And this isn't just a restaurant problem: any business that relies on a platform to be discovered should be thinking about it.
(Rule of thumb: when the market leader starts emailing warnings about a 10-person startup, pay attention to the startup.)
So who do we cheer for? Whoever gives restaurants back the relationship with their customers, I suppose. Right now, that's Bites.
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