Uber says AI agents booked just four rides in its busiest October week

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AI agents booking things for us has been one of the big promises of the past year, but the early numbers are tiny. TechCrunch reports that in Uber's busiest week of October, around Halloween, AI agents booked only four rides and about 500 Uber Eats orders

Uber handled about 320 million trips and orders that week, according to chief financial officer Balaji Krishnamurthy. The figures came out during the company's latest results call

Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said it is very, very early, with very limited traction so far. He also pointed out that every major AI company is talking to Uber, so the interest is clearly there

He explained why uptake is slow. Booking a ride in the app takes about 50 seconds and reordering food about 90 seconds, so an agent saves very little time, and DoorDash has also seen only a few hundred agent orders

This is a useful reality check. Agents make the most sense for complicated tasks, not ones that already take a few taps, and these are just one week's figures. As assistants spread and get better at handling payments and preferences, the numbers could change quickly

Would you let an AI agent book your rides or takeaways? And which tasks do you think agents will take over first?

Almost no one uses AI agents to book their Uber, company says | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com