Put together a group takeout lunch order around a vegan colleague

WIRED's Reece Rogers had six phone agents build a nearby Vietnamese lunch cart for him and his vegan boss; OpenAI's Dots won and he ordered its cart, while Gemini Spark bought one $6 roll for the boss.

Done withDots· Oct 27, 2026

What they did

Reece Rogers, a WIRED software reporter, spent a day running six always-on agents on his iPhone through everyday jobs: Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, Instinct, Claude Duet, Gemini Spark and Grok Bot. One job was lunch. He asked each agent to build a takeout order from a place near the office that he could walk to and pick up, covering something meaty plus strong coffee for himself and a vegan Vietnamese meal for his boss. He committed to ordering from whichever agent did best. The agents browsed restaurant sites and delivery apps such as DoorDash and Uber Eats to put carts together.

How it went

Every agent landed on one of two nearby Vietnamese places. Dots scored 5 of 5: it picked the cheaper, tastier one through the restaurant's own site, swapped soy sauce for fish sauce on the boss's rolls, and came to $30.57 before tax. Rogers placed that order. Muse and Grok Bot built similar carts at about $43 through DoorDash. Claude Duet asked whether to use DoorDash or Uber Eats and came to $49.25, and Instinct was pricier still. Gemini Spark failed by giving the boss a single spring roll.

Worth knowing

This was one test in a single-day comparison, not long-term use. Delivery apps hide tax and fees until checkout, so cart totals the agents report are not the final price. Dots costs $100 a month, the most of the six.

Try it

With Dots· 8 parts to fill in

Build a takeout lunch order for [number] people from a restaurant within [distance] of [address] that I can pick up myself. For me: [what I want]. For [colleague]: [dietary needs, for example vegan, and cuisine they want]. Check each dish against the dietary rules and ask for swaps such as sauces where needed. Compare at least [number] places on price and reviews, and use the restaurant's own site or [delivery app]. Show me the full cart with item prices and the total before tax and fees, and wait for my go-ahead before placing anything.

Square brackets are the parts to fill in. The prompt is ours; the story is theirs.

Where they said it

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