Artificial Intelligence1 min read

Almost no one uses AI agents to book their Uber, company says

By · Via TechCrunch · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Platform metrics demonstrate that users overwhelmingly favor manual ordering, with direct app sessions requiring under a minute to secure transport and barely a minute and a half to reorder meals. This consumer resistance to automated workflows mirrors similar findings at competitors like DoorDash, which also processed only a negligible number of automated meal orders. Despite these fractional numbers, tech powerhouses including Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI continue pushing agent infrastructure forward. Uber views these long-term developments favorably and is actively negotiating integrations with every prominent developer in the automated assistant market.

Key points

  • Direct consumer applications remain fast enough to discourage immediate migration toward…: Direct consumer applications remain fast enough to discourage immediate migration toward third-party automated agent platforms.
  • Major artificial intelligence developers are actively holding corporate discussions with…: Major artificial intelligence developers are actively holding corporate discussions with Uber to integrate transportation and food delivery features.
  • Platform executives expect automated assistants to ultimately serve as a net positive dri…: Platform executives expect automated assistants to ultimately serve as a net positive driver of overall transaction volume over time.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Very few people are using personal AI agents to order Ubers, apparently. On the transportation giant’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, the company said that only four rides were ordered through an AI agent during its busiest week in October: the week of Halloween.

While more people used an AI agent to order food through its delivery service, Uber Eats, the volume was still fairly small compared to the overall number of trips.

Uber’s chief financial officer, Balaji Krishnamurthy, told Wall Street analysts on the call that the company handled around 320 million trips and orders across Uber and Uber Eats during the week of Halloween, but only 500 Uber Eats orders were placed by an AI agent.

“It is very, very early and very limited traction that we are seeing so far,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, referring to the low number of orders placed by AI agents. “Listen, we hope that there will be more traction.”

The surprisingly low numbers of AI-initiated transactions come amid growing hype for a new wave of AI agents that don’t just answer questions…

Artificial Intelligence