Uber President Questions AI Spending ROI
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."
The Cost of AI Investment at Uber
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.
Token Consumption vs. Headcount Trade-Off
"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."
Key Metrics Under Scrutiny
- Token consumption for AI tools like Claude Code is rising astronomically.
- Consumer feature output shows no clear proportional increase.
- Headcount reduction is being used to offset AI spending.
What This Means for the AI Industry
Macdonald's comments reflect a growing concern among tech leaders: massive AI spending may not yet translate into measurable productivity gains. While some underlying metrics are trending upward, the direct line between AI investment and useful consumer features remains elusive.
"I think over the coming quarters and years, maybe that will become clearer," Macdonald added, suggesting that the industry is still in an experimental phase where ROI is hard to quantify.
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