Uber COO Questions ROI of AI Spending as Company Exhausts 2026 Claude Code Budget in 4 Months
By
Devesh Beri
Toasted just enough. A reliable bake, gently seasoned.
Summary
Uber COO Andrew Macdonald admits the company is struggling to justify its soaring AI costs, particularly spending on Anthropic's Claude Code. Despite internal metrics showing increased code production, there's no clear evidence linking AI usage to actual productivity gains or improvements to the Uber experience. The company exhausted its entire 2026 budget for Claude Code within just the first four months of the year.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledUber president and chief operating officer Andrew Macdonald says the company's fast‑growing AI costs are getting harder to justify, largely because he can't identify a clear link between AI use and real productivity gains.
While some internal numbers show more code is being written using Anthropic's Claude Code—the company's top AI budget item—it's unclear whether that code is making a difference on either side of the Uber experience.
The company used up its entire 2026 budget for Claude Code in the first four months.
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