Uber Questions ROI on AI Investments
After reportedly exhausting its annual AI budget just four months into 2026, Uber is now questioning whether it’s actually seeing meaningful returns on its investments. In an interview with Rapid Response, Uber president and chief operating officer Andrew Macdonald said the company isn’t seeing a connection between rising token consumption for Claude Code and more useful features being delivered to consumers.
“That link is not there yet, right? I think maybe implicitly there is more that is getting shipped, but it’s very hard to draw a line between one of those stats and, ‘Okay, now we’re actually producing 25 percent more useful consumer features,’” said Macdonald. “I think over the coming quarters and years, maybe that will become clearer, but I think today it’s hard, even if some of the underlying metrics are trending in a really astronomical direction.”
Uber spent $3.4 billion on research and development efforts in 2025, 9 percent more than it had spent the previous year. Earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company was making up for its increasing AI investments by hiring fewer human employees.
“We’re going to have to start talking about token consumption and the associated cost versus headcount,” said Macdonald. “So if you’re not actually able to draw a direct line to how much useful features and functionality you’re shipping to your users, that trade becomes harder to justify.”
Uber is facing challenges in determining the return on investment (ROI) for its AI budget. Despite spending $3.4 billion on research and development in 2025, the company is struggling to see a direct correlation between increased token consumption for Claude Code and the delivery of more useful features to consumers.
In an interview with Rapid Response, Uber’s president and COO, Andrew Macdonald, expressed concerns about the lack of clarity in measuring the impact of AI investments on product development. While some underlying metrics show significant growth, Macdonald highlighted the difficulty in quantifying the actual value delivered to users.
As a result of the growing AI budget, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced a shift towards hiring fewer human employees to offset costs. Macdonald emphasized the importance of evaluating the trade-off between token consumption, costs, and the tangible benefits for users.
Looking ahead, Uber plans to reassess its AI strategy to ensure that investments align with the delivery of meaningful consumer features. The company acknowledges the need to establish a clearer connection between AI spending and product innovation to justify future investments.