Uber Eats’ new AI chatbot will offer recommendations to customers

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. — Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash

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.