AI Agents Rarely Used for Food and Ride-Ordering on Popular Apps

AI agents are infrequently used by customers to order food or rides on platforms like Uber. Despite expectations of a major shift in online ordering, both Uber and DoorDash reported minimal engagement with AI agents like Meta’s Muse or Instinct in their recent earnings calls. These numbers are insignificant compared to the daily millions of rides and deliveries completed by these companies.

Uber’s third-quarter earnings call revealed that the company processed 320 million ride-hailing and delivery trips in the last week of October. This was one of the busiest periods due to Halloween-related orders, as noted by Uber’s CFO, Balaji Krishnamurthy. During this peak time, only about 500 Uber Eats orders and four ride-hailing trips originated from AI agents. Krishnamurthy highlighted that the adoption of AI agents is still in its early stages and lacks significant traction.

Similarly, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu mentioned that his company received only a few hundred orders from AI agents. This number represents a small fraction of the billions of orders DoorDash handles each year.

Some individuals using AI agents have delegated tasks such as purchasing plane tickets and groceries to them. Users also find these tools helpful for tracking prices. On the other hand, concerns over potential ordering mistakes and security risks, like mishandled credit card information, have led some to approach AI agents with caution.

Despite limited current usage, both Uber and DoorDash are progressing with their AI features. DoorDash announced in September the trial of a text-to-order option that allows users to bypass the traditional app interface.

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