AI companies want agents to handle your everyday errands—but Uber, DoorDash, and Airbnb say barely anyone is using them for that
Uber reported just four rides booked by outside agents in one week, while DoorDash and Airbnb also saw negligible activity.
Artificial Intelligence companies are rolling out agents to simplify everyday tasks like booking trips, ordering food, and shopping online. However, major players like Uber, DoorDash, and Airbnb are reporting low adoption of these agents for customer orders. Uber CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy revealed that AI agents only facilitated four Uber rides and 500 Uber Eats deliveries out of 320 million combined rides and food orders in a single week.
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu mentioned that AI agents generated "maybe several hundred orders" during the same period. AirBnB's CEO Brian Chesky shared that only a small fraction of their nearly half a million daily bookings are made through AI agents. Despite the limited impact, these companies continue to invest in AI to enhance user experience.
Uber Eats customers can use Cart Assistance to automatically populate their grocery cart, while DoorDash offers Ask DoorDash for quick grocery list creation. Airbnb is developing a custom AI agent to assist users with trip planning and reservation management, with the launch expected in early next year. Despite the low initial adoption, Uber plans to explore partnerships with third-party AI agents to improve its platform.
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Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Almost nobody uses AI agents to order food or rides on apps like Uber businessinsider.com
