After reportedly exhausting its annual AI funds simply 4 months into 2026, Uber is now questioning whether or not it’s really seeing significant returns on its investments. In an interview with Rapid ResponseUber president and chief working officer Andrew Macdonald mentioned the corporate isn’t seeing a connection between rising token consumption for Claude Code and extra helpful options being delivered to shoppers.
“That hyperlink will not be there but, proper? I believe possibly implicitly there may be extra that’s getting shipped, but it surely’s very laborious to attract a line between a kind of stats and, ‘Okay, now we’re really producing 25 % extra helpful client options,’” mentioned Macdonald. “I believe over the approaching quarters and years, possibly that can turn into clearer, however I believe in the present day it’s laborious, even when among the underlying metrics are trending in a extremely astronomical path.”
Uber spent $3.4 billion on analysis and growth efforts in 2025, 9 % greater than it had spent the earlier 12 months. Earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi mentioned the corporate was making up for its growing AI investments by hiring fewer human employees.
“We’re going to have to begin speaking about token consumption and the related value versus headcount,” mentioned Macdonald. “So in case you’re not really ready to attract a direct line to how a lot helpful options and performance you’re transport to your customers, that commerce turns into tougher to justify.”
