Uber’s president says AI spending is increasingly ‘difficult to justify’

After spending its annual AI budget just four months into 2026, Uber is now questioning whether it’s seeing a real return on investment. In communication with Fast ResponseUber president and chief operating officer Andrew Macdonald said the company does not see a connection between the rise of Claude Code’s tokens and the more useful features offered to consumers.

“That link hasn’t been there yet, right? I think there’s probably a lot that’s being sent, but it’s very difficult to draw a line between one of those numbers and, ‘Okay, now we’re making the most effective 25 percent of consumers,'” Macdonald said. “I think in the coming years, maybe this will be more clear, but I think today it’s difficult, even if some metrics are going into the sky.”

Uber will spend $3.4 billion on research and development in 2025, 9 percent more than it spent last year. Earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company is planning to increase its investment in AI. hire fewer employees.

“We need to start talking about the use of tokens and the value of them in relation to the population,” said Macdonald. “So if you can’t draw a straight line in what you’re sending to your users, the product becomes difficult to explain.”