A prime Uber exec stated AI is just not giving the corporate bang for its buck.
In a Rapid Response interview launched on Saturday, Uber’s operations chief, Andrew Macdonald, stated it was turning into tougher to justify AI prices throughout the firm.
He stated that Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga went viral after telling The Data in an April interview that Uber had already blown via its Claude Code price range for 2026.
The remark led to what he described as a “head-exploding second,” sparking discussions about AI token consumption throughout the firm and the trade-offs it creates, resembling on head depend.
He stated that, based mostly on talks with Uber’s senior engineering leaders, he realized greater token utilization didn’t translate right into a proportional improve in helpful client options.
“That hyperlink is just not there but, proper?” he stated. “I feel perhaps implicitly there’s extra that’s getting shipped, but it surely’s very arduous to attract a line between a kind of stats and, ‘Okay, now we’re truly producing 25% extra helpful client options.'”
He stated that the trade-off prices from AI are tougher to justify as a result of he cannot draw a direct hyperlink. Earlier this month, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated in an earnings name that Uber was slowing hiring to counter its investments in AI.
Macdonald added that AI can appear free should you’re “only a person sitting there developing with fascinating use instances” with out paying for it. However finally, the corporate foots the invoice.
Whereas Massive Tech goes arduous on tokenmaxxing —utilizing AI as a lot as doable — and evaluating employees by their AI utilization, some firms are beginning to go the opposite method.
Duolingo, for instance, walked again its resolution to incorporate AI utilization in efficiency critiques after staff requested whether or not they had to make use of AI for the sake of utilizing it.
“It felt like, somewhat than being held accountable for the precise consequence, we have been attempting to only push one thing that in some instances didn’t match,” Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn stated in a podcast interview in April.
