Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE:UBER) is learning the hard way that scaling AI isn't just about speed—it's about cost. Despite spending $3.4 billion on research and development, the company has already exhausted its planned AI budget just months into 2026.

According to The Information, Chief Technology Officer Praveen Neppalli Naga said Uber is now "back to the drawing board" after a surge in the use of AI coding tools, particularly Anthropic's Claude Code, has blown past internal expectations.

AI Usage Surge, Costs Follow

Uber didn't hold back on AI adoption. Engineers were actively encouraged to use tools like Claude Code and Cursor, even ranking them on internal leaderboards based on usage. That push drove rapid adoption—but also a sharp rise in costs.

Naga noted that Claude Code has quickly become the dominant tool, with usage surging since late last year, while Cursor has plateaued. Uber is now preparing to test OpenAI's Codex as it expands its AI stack further.

The financial pressure is already building. Uber's R&D expenses rose 9% to $3.4 billion in 2025, and the company expects that figure to keep climbing—suggesting AI may be as much a cost driver as a productivity lever.

AI Moves Into The Driver's Seat

The payoff is starting to show. Around 11% of Uber's live backend code updates are now written by AI agents, up sharply in just a few months. These systems power everything from ride-matching to pricing and bug fixes.

Naga said the longer-term vision goes further. He sees a shift toward "agent engineers"—AI systems that don't just assist but fully handle coding, testing and deployment, with other AI tools supervising the process.

Hiring hasn't slowed yet. But as AI takes on more of the workload, Uber's aggressive push raises a bigger question: how long before the engineers themselves start taking a back seat?

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