Uber Questions Returns on AI Spending After Early Budget Exhaustion

Uber president and chief operating officer Andrew Macdonald said the company is not seeing a measurable connection between increased AI token consumption and additional useful features for users. In an interview with Rapid Response, Macdonald stated that rising usage of tools such as Claude Code has not produced a direct increase in deliverable consumer functionality.

He noted that while some underlying metrics are increasing, it remains difficult to link those metrics to specific productivity gains.

Uber exhausted its annual AI budget four months into 2026. 4 billion on research and development in 2025, an increase of 9 percent from the prior year. Macdonald said the company will begin comparing token consumption costs against headcount reductions.

Earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the firm is offsetting higher AI spending by hiring fewer employees. Macdonald added that without a clearer line between AI investment and shipped features, the trade-off between token costs and reduced headcount becomes harder to justify over coming quarters.