Almost No One Is Using AI Agents To Book Uber Rides, Company Reveals
Last Updated: 2026-11-05 10:46:03
AI agents may be attracting significant attention, but their use for everyday transactions remains extremely limited, according to Uber.
During Uber’s third-quarter earnings call, the company revealed that only four rides were booked through AI agents during its busiest week in October, which coincided with Halloween.
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Uber Eats saw somewhat greater activity, but the numbers were still tiny compared with the platform’s overall transaction volume. Chief financial officer Balaji Krishnamurthy said Uber and Uber Eats together handled about 320 million trips and orders during the Halloween week. Only around 500 Uber Eats orders were placed through AI agents.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi acknowledged that adoption remains at an early stage. He said the company had seen “very, very early and very limited traction” from AI agents, while adding that Uber hopes usage will increase over time.
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The figures come as the technology industry increasingly promotes AI agents that can do more than answer questions. These systems are designed to carry out tasks for users, including shopping, ordering food and booking services.
A growing number of companies are developing such products. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI are among the major AI players offering agent-style capabilities, while several startups are also targeting the emerging market.
However, data from other consumer platforms suggests that AI agents have yet to become a mainstream way of completing online transactions.
DoorDash recently said that only a few hundred orders had been received from AI agents, with most customers continuing to place orders directly through its app.
Uber believes one reason for the slow adoption could be that its existing services are already quick to use. Khosrowshahi said booking an Uber ride through the company’s app takes an average of about 50 seconds, while ordering a favourite meal again takes around 90 seconds.
That leaves AI agents with a difficult question to answer: if an existing app can complete the same task in under a minute or two, consumers may not see a strong reason to hand the job over to an AI assistant.
Despite the limited numbers, Khosrowshahi remains optimistic about the potential of AI agents. He said the technology could eventually become another way for customers to access Uber’s services and could generate additional demand.
He also expects the number of major AI assistants available to consumers to increase. According to Khosrowshahi, there are currently around eight major AI assistants, with that number likely to rise above 10.