Uber counted four AI-agent rides in a week of 320 million trips

Uber had never published this count before, and it did not say which assistants placed the orders. The Verge names Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots as examples of agents that order for a customer, and notes that some experts see apps like Uber at risk of losing customers to them.

Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi called the traction very limited, and TechCrunch points to the timings he gave: about 50 seconds to book a ride in the app and 90 seconds to reorder a favourite meal. TechCrunch says that suggests an agent is not necessarily saving anyone time.

He still expects agents to add demand. He counts eight assistants today, expects more than ten, and says every AI company is talking to Uber. DoorDash said much the same last week, with a few hundred agent orders so far.

Of the assistant plans in our database, only ChatGPT Go mentions ads, on the plan card we read on 31 October (our ChatGPT page).

Roughly 504 agent orders and rides in about 320 million is one in every 635,000, so outside assistants made up almost none of Uber’s volume in the week it counted.