Uber president says AI spending is getting 'harder to justify' (www.theverge.com)

Uber's president, Andrew Macdonald, revealed that the company has exhausted its annual AI budget just four months into 2026, raising questions about the effectiveness of its investments. Despite spending $3.4 billion on research and development in 2025—an increase of 9% over the previous year—Macdonald indicated that Uber struggles to see a tangible return in the form of enhanced consumer features linked to rising AI token consumption. This lack of clear correlation complicates the justification for further AI spending. This situation is significant for the AI/ML community as it highlights a growing concern among tech companies about the ROI from AI investments. With Uber's increasing reliance on AI reflected in its reduced hiring of human employees, the challenge will be finding a balance between operating costs and the value delivered to users. As the industry evolves, Macdonald suggests that while metrics may be trending positively, concrete results in terms of productivity and user benefit are still elusive, making the effective management of AI resources more critical than ever.