Uber leverages Amazon AI in delivery and rideshare infrastructure
Uber is using Amazon Web Services artificial intelligence compute, storage and networking to optimize delivery and rideshare operations.
The provider of delivery and rideshare services is utilizing several AI offerings from the Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosted cloud division of Amazon to support its Trip Serving Zones, which provide the real-time infrastructure supporting all Uber deliveries and rides.
Trip Serving Zones are part of a larger Uber system making millions of predictions and processing location data in milliseconds, such as determining the closest driver and the fastest and safest route. By running more of these workloads on AWS cloud Graviton4 processors, Uber intends to reduce energy consumption while scaling rapidly during demand spikes, with the goals of cutting latency and optimizing costs.
"Uber operates at a scale where milliseconds matter," said Kamran Zargahi, VP of engineering at Uber. "Moving more Trip Serving workloads to AWS gives us the flexibility to match riders and drivers faster and handle delivery demand spikes without disruption.”
Uber has also started pilot training some AI models on Amazon Trainium AI chips, seeking to enable faster rider and delivery matching, global demand handling, and more personalized experiences for users; as well as experimenting with Amazon Tranium3 chips to train some of the AI models that help run its apps.
The models based on Tranium3 chips analyze data from billions of rides and deliveries to determine which driver or courier to send, calculate arrival times, and recommend the best delivery options to the customer. As the models learn from more trips, Uber hopes to deliver faster matches, more accurate arrival time estimates, and more personalized recommendations to customers worldwide.
Other recent AI-related activities at Uber include the release of a new agentic AI-based beta feature on the mobile app of its Uber Eats delivery subsidiary called Cart Assistant.
[READ MORE: Uber Eats launches agentic AI-based grocery list tool]
In addition, U.S. consumers have been able to use their Amazon Echo devices to track the status of Uber Eats orders since 2023. More recently, Amazon began enabling Alexa+ voice assistant users to change their mind, ask questions, and customize as they go when placing food delivery orders with Uber Eats.
"Uber is one of the most demanding real-time applications in the world, and we're proud to be an important part of the infrastructure powering their global operations,” said Rich Geraffo, VP and managing director of North America at AWS. “We're helping Uber deliver the reliability hundreds of millions of people count on today—and the AI-powered experiences that will define ride-sharing and on-demand delivery tomorrow.”
