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Freedom Carlson, left, and Christopher Rongstad prepare a pizza on a conveyor belt as Zume Pizza co-founder and CEO Julia Collins watches in Mountain View, Calif.
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Startup uses robots to grab slice of pizza pie

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Startup uses robots to grab slice of pizza pie

More tech firms are automating food prep’s more repetitive tasks

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Did robots help make your pizza?

If you ordered it from Silicon Valley’s Zume Pizza, the answer is yes.

The startup, which began delivery in April, is using intelligent machines to grab a slice of the multibillion-dollar pizza delivery market. Zume is one of a growing number of food-tech firms seeking to disrupt the industry with software and robots. But Zume’s founders say the firm doesn’t plan to fire any of its 50 employees.

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“We’re going to eliminate boring, repetitive, dangerous jobs, and we’re going to free up people to do things that are higher value,” said co-founder Alex Garden, a former Microsoft manager and president of mobile-game maker Zynga Studios.

Machines will add sauce to the dough, spread it, and slide the pies into the oven. San Francisco-based Momentum Machines is building robots to make gourmet burgers, and BistroBot’s machine makes sandwiches.

Robots help reduce labor costs, speed production, and improve safety. But they struggle with tasks that require fine motor skills, judgment, and taste, said Ken Goldberg of the University of California, Berkeley.

First Published September 15, 2016, 4:00 a.m.

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Freedom Carlson, left, and Christopher Rongstad prepare a pizza on a conveyor belt as Zume Pizza co-founder and CEO Julia Collins watches in Mountain View, Calif.  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A robot places a pizza into an oven at Zume Pizza in Mountain View, Calif. Other companies are using technology too, but an expert says robots can’t be depended on for their taste, fine-motor skills, and judgment.  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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