Kroger, the largest American supermarket chain announced a new partnership with California-based Nuro Thursday to test driverless home deliveries. The pilot program could begin as early as the fourth quarter in an unnamed region.

"Unmanned delivery will be a game-changer for local commerce, and together with Kroger, we're thrilled to test this new delivery experience to bring grocery customers new levels of convenience and value," said Dave Ferguson, Co-Founder, Nuro.

"Our safe, reliable, and affordable service, combined with Kroger's ubiquitous brand, is a powerful first step in our mission to accelerate the benefits of robotics for everyday life."

While supermarkets and grocery stores are rushing into home deliveries — unlocking a tranche of more gig-economy jobs for heavily indebted millennials, Kroger and Nuro could soon rain on the parade as their new partnership uses fully autonomous vehicles to overcome the expensive challenge of "last mile delivery" — the last step in getting items to a shopper's home.