DoorDash bans ‘driver’ after they use AI to fake a food delivery

by

DoorDash says it has blocked an account that used artificial intelligence to falsely show a food delivery had been completed, immediately after the order was made. They claim the account created a fake image to make it look like the delivery was finished.

So, I tried ordering DoorDash a couple of days in the future – December 27th, 2025, to be exact. I barely hit submit on the order, and it immediately said it had already been delivered! It was a really weird glitch on X (formerly Twitter) that someone named Byrne Hobart posted about.

They grew concerned when they noticed a picture on an app that looked very much like their front door, with a grocery bag sitting outside. It turned out the image wasn’t a real photo, but was actually created using artificial intelligence.

Although it felt like hours online, only a few seconds had actually passed in real life, and the customers hadn’t received their food. While many people doubted the post’s authenticity after it went viral, DoorDash has confirmed the incident by stating they’ve banned the account responsible.

DoorDash bans ‘driver’ for using AI to fake a delivery

So, I was thinking about how this could’ve happened, and Hobart brought up a good point – maybe someone used a phone that wasn’t locked down properly, like a jailbroken one. That could’ve let them peek at a hidden DoorDash feature, one that shows pictures from past deliveries to the same place. It’s a bit of a stretch, but it makes some sense, right?

I experienced something similar last night in Austin. It felt really strange, almost like a glitch in a video game.

— Dave (@davegorum) December 27, 2025

They might have used one of the photos to ask an AI to create an image showing a completed delivery at the location. However, this is just a guess at this point, so it’s best to view it with a grain of salt.

Another X user named Dave reported a similar incident, also happening in Austin, Texas on the same day. He posted a comparison of his actual house and an AI-generated image of it, showing a food delivery in front.

After the story gained attention online, a DoorDash representative told TechCrunch that the account in question had been deleted.

So, I just heard back about that Dasher account – they’ve been permanently banned. Apparently, our team looked into it right away and found they were committing fraud. We take that super seriously, and we’ve got systems in place – both automated and people manually checking things – to catch anyone trying to cheat the system. We don’t mess around with that kind of stuff.

This isn’t the first time AI has caused problems. We’ve already seen examples like AI creating fake property listings and even completely fabricated events, such as New Year’s celebrations that never happened.

Read More

2026-01-06 03:49