Uber President and COO Andrew Macdonald said the company has not yet seen a link between greater AI token usage and the delivery of useful consumer features.
Macdonald made the comment on the Rapid Response Podcast, as reported by Business Insider, when the conversation turned to shaping products “what’s better for the consumer.”
“That link is not there yet, right?” Macdonald said.
He added that Uber is “working with pretty much all of the large model companies” but that management is asking for evidence of productivity gains and clear AI-driven product outcomes before ramping spending.
The podcast referenced Duolingo employees’ complaints that AI was being pushed for its own sake and that it sometimes created extra work such as monitoring and reinforcing outputs, a point Macdonald acknowledged during the discussion.
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Separately, Uber’s CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga told The Information the company had exhausted its Claude Code budget for 2026 by April, a disclosure that highlighted the scale of recent AI expenditures.
Macdonald’s comments signal Uber will continue using large models while pressing for demonstrable returns on that investment.