Almost no one uses AI agents to book Uber rides
Uber reports only four rides were booked via AI agents during Halloween week, while Uber Eats saw 500 AI-driven food orders.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Uber reveals only four rides were booked using personal AI agents during Halloween week
- Uber Eats processed just 500 AI-driven food orders out of millions of transactions
- Executives note that booking a ride takes only 50 seconds in-app, limiting AI appeal
Very few people are currently utilizing personal artificial intelligence agents to order transportation services, according to recent data released by industry giant Uber during its third-quarter earnings call, highlighting the slow consumer adoption of autonomous digital assistants for daily tasks.
During the company's busiest week of October, which coincided with Halloween, only four rides were successfully ordered through an AI agent. While food delivery services via Uber Eats experienced slightly higher engagement, the overall volume remained negligible compared to the platform's massive daily transaction numbers.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Balaji Krishnamurthy, Uber's chief financial officer, informed Wall Street analysts that the enterprise handled approximately 320 million trips and orders across both Uber and Uber Eats during that peak Halloween week. However, out of that vast volume, only 500 food orders were initiated by an AI agent.
Competitor platforms are observing similar consumer trends across the industry. DoorDash recently disclosed on its own earnings call that it has only gathered a few hundred orders from AI agents to date, as the vast majority of consumers continue to place requests directly through native mobile applications.
The extremely low adoption rate of AI booking agents underscores a fundamental UX hurdle: if traditional apps are already frictionless, autonomous agents must offer a vastly superior experience to justify their use. Currently, they often introduce unnecessary layers of complexity rather than genuine efficiency.
Dara Khosrowshahi pointed out that the average duration to secure a ride is merely 50 seconds within the company's proprietary application, while reordering a preferred meal takes just 90 seconds. These metrics suggest that deploying an auxiliary AI agent does not necessarily translate into actual time savings for the end user.
We think that is another opportunity to reach our platform. We think it will be a net positive in terms of demand on the ecosystem
Dara Khosrowshahi
Despite the current scarcity of automated transactions, Uber's leadership remains optimistic regarding the long-term potential of digital agents. Khosrowshahi noted that roughly eight major AI assistants operate in the current market, a figure he anticipates will surpass ten as enterprise discussions continue to accelerate across the tech sector.
Source: TechCrunch
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