Uber burned through its full year AI budget in just 4 months of 2026, now it's questioning the payoff

Uber used up its entire AI budget for 2026 in just the first four months, and now top executives are asking if it was worth it. Chief Operating Officer Andrew Macdonald said the company hasn't found a clear link between the spike in token usage for Claude Code and actual improvements in user-facing features.

"It's hard to connect the dots right now," Macdonald said. Even though data usage is exploding, he noted it's tough to prove that's translating into a 25% boost in useful features for riders and drivers. In 2025, Uber spent $3.4 billion on R&D, up 9% from the year before. To keep funding AI, the company is slowing down hiring.

Macdonald explained that Uber now has to balance token usage, costs, and headcount. Without clear proof that AI spending leads to better services for users, those trade-offs become harder to justify.