Uber disclosed for the first time that third-party AI agents arranged only four rides on its platform during the third quarter of 2026. The figure came out of an earnings call held this morning, where executives also said AI agents accounted for roughly 500 Uber Eats orders during the week of Halloween. Together those agent-driven transactions were a tiny fraction of the 320 million Uber rides and Uber Eats deliveries the company recorded.
The disclosure offers an early measure of a threat some experts have warned could reshape platforms like Uber and DoorDash. That risk, known as disintermediation, envisions customers turning to AI agents such as Meta's Muse or OpenAI's Dots to book a ride or order food instead of opening the Uber app itself. For now, Uber's numbers suggest the shift is negligible.
Uber's executives said during the call that the company is open to collaborating with third-party AI companies to make it easier for agents to use its platform, while also saying they expect customers to keep preferring the experience of using the Uber app directly. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he hopes there will be more traction and that Uber wants its services to be available to consumers in a delightful, easy way. He said the company believes its direct services will be the most delightful and easy, but that it will work with these third parties.
Khosrowshahi also described the situation as very, very early, saying Uber wants to make sure it is not dependent on any one player. He added that he thinks the company is very well positioned in this environment going forward.
This first wave of AI agents still has a long way to go before people see them as a viable way to order food or book a ride, with many friction points remaining. Platform operators like Uber or DoorDash have little incentive to let these agents replace their own customers. The AI companies know this is one of their primary use cases and their best path to a more profitable future, but getting Uber to agree to more disintermediation will be a tough ask.
Uber is also building its own AI tools aimed at keeping customers on its platform. Earlier this year the company rolled out a new Cart Assistant for Uber Eats, in which an AI bot builds a grocery list based on an image of a recipe or a text prompt.
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