AI agents are still very rarely used to order a meal or book a ride on Uber. According to the company’s executives, only four rides were arranged by third-party AI agents during the third quarter of 2026, as mentioned on the earnings conference call.
- Uber a enregistré seulement quatre courses réservées par des agents IA tiers au troisième trimestre 2026.
- Les livraisons passées par ces agents sont un peu plus nombreuses, environ 500 pendant la semaine d’Halloween.
- Uber juge le risque de désintermédiation très limité, tout en restant ouvert aux collaborations avec ces agents.
- L’entreprise développe ses propres outils IA, comme le Cart Assistant, pour fidéliser ses clients.
Deliveries arranged by these agents are slightly more numerous. Uber reports counting “about 500” during Halloween week, out of a total of 320 million Uber rides and Uber Eats deliveries. This is the first time the company has disclosed the number of third-party AI agents arranging deliveries or rides on its platform.
The topic is gaining importance with the rise of agents like Meta’s Muse or OpenAI’s Dots. These programs can perform tasks on behalf of the user. Some experts believe platforms like Uber or DoorDash could face disintermediation, meaning customers would order through these agents rather than via the app itself.
For now, this risk appears very limited. During the conference call, Uber executives expressed openness to collaborating with third-party AI companies to facilitate platform usage by agents, while also expressing confidence in customers’ preference for the Uber app. “We hope there will be more traction,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi during the call. He added: “We think we want to make services available to consumers in a delightful and simple way. We think our direct services will be the most delightful and simplest, but we will work with these third parties.”
The executive continued: “It’s very, very early, and we want to make sure we’re not dependent on any single player, and I think we’re very well positioned in this coming environment.”
These early agents still have many hurdles to overcome before being considered a viable way to order food or book a ride, with numerous points of friction. Furthermore, platforms like Uber or DoorDash have little incentive to let these agents replace their own customers. This does not mean AI companies won’t eventually succeed. They view this use case as one of their primary applications and a path to increased profitability, but getting Uber to accept more disintermediation will be difficult.
In-house tools to retain customers
Uber is developing its own AI tools, designed to keep customers using its platform. The company has launched a new shopping cart assistant for Uber Eats, the Cart Assistant, where an AI bot creates a shopping list from a recipe image or a written prompt.
