Uber Eats’ New AI Chatbot Will Offer Recommendations to Customers

An artificial intelligence chatbot under development at Uber Technologies Inc. will offer recommendations to food-delivery customers and help them more quickly place orders, part of a race to integrate AI into popular apps.

Details of the Uber program were discovered inside of code hidden within its Eats app, providing a peek into a feature that hasn’t yet been announced. When a user launches the chatbot, the software will show a message that says the “AI assistant was designed to help you find relevant restaurant dishes and more,” according to wording within the code, which was discovered by developer Steve Moser and shared with Bloomberg News.

Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg Television earlier this month that his company was working on an AI chatbot, without sharing details of its capabilities. He said Uber has already been using AI to match users to drivers and couriers.

Uber Eats, which accounts for about a third of the company’s revenue, is up against DoorDash Inc. and Instacart in trying to use AI to improve food delivery. DoorDash has been working on a system called DashAI, and Instacart is developing a chatbot based on OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology. Instacart, the largest US online grocery delivery company, is planning an initial public offering, putting an additional spotlight on its technology.

The Uber chatbot will ask customers to type in their budget and food preferences and help them place an order. It’s unclear when the system will launch publicly. A spokesperson for San Francisco-based Uber declined to comment.