Uber Eats introduces AI-powered cart assistant for groceries

Uber Eats is set to innovate your grocery shopping experience with artificial intelligence (AI).

On Wednesday, the ride-hailing leader announced a new AI assistant within its food delivery platform, allowing users to create a shopping cart through text or images, such as handwritten notes for groceries.

Uber is rolling out this feature with numerous major retailers, including Safeway, Albertsons, and Kroger. 

This tool takes into account preferences and store stock, also enabling edits to choices, the company shared.

"The Cart Assistant embodies our approach to AI at Uber: catering to actual customer demands by crafting practical app solutions," stated Praveen Neppalli Naga, head of technology at Uber, in a statement. 

"By building features anchored in authentic user activity, we can create tools that are both useful and easy to navigate."

Uber and its competitors in food delivery and ride services are integrating more AI capabilities to enhance their platforms for users and businesses.

This July, Uber introduced advanced tools for food establishments, featuring AI-driven menu descriptions and quick summaries of customer feedback.

Uber and DoorDash have made bold moves into the grocery delivery space, directly challenging Instacart. 

Both firms began providing these services in 2020 amid the peak of the Covid pandemic. 

Recently, Uber has been expanding its partnerships, now including Aldi and FreshDirect. Just last week, they announced the addition of five new partners.

The delivery segment's gross bookings surged 26% from the previous year, hitting $25.4 billion in the fourth quarter.