Uber is in the hotel business now, thanks in part to AI

In a groundbreaking move, Uber has introduced a hotel booking feature within its app for users in the United States, marking a significant departure from its traditional ride-hailing model. Announced during the company's annual Go-Get event in New York City, this new capability allows Uber customers to access over 700,000 hotels globally, thanks to a partnership with Expedia Group, a company previously led by Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi. The expansion doesn't stop there. Uber plans to integrate vacation rentals from Vrbo, a startup under Expedia, into the app later this year. To entice more users to subscribe to its Uber One service, Uber is offering members a 20% discount on a rotating selection of 10,000 hotels booked through the app, alongside a 10% rebate in Uber Credits for all hotel reservations. Khosrowshahi emphasized the company's transformation, stating, "We’re no longer just an app for rides or even a family of apps for rides and eats. Uber is now an app for everything, where you can go, you can get, and now you can travel." This shift is part of a broader strategy to enhance user engagement by integrating various services into the platform. In addition to hotel bookings, Uber unveiled several new features powered by agentic AI tools, including a voice booking system and a comprehensive search tool. Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's Chief Technology Officer, noted that these advancements have significantly accelerated the development process. Features that once took a year to implement can now be launched in as little as six months, thanks to the integration of AI technologies. Naga mentioned, "Our challenges at Uber are not about lacking ideas; rather, we often struggle with time and resources to bring those ideas to fruition." Also unveiled at the Go-Get event was a new travel mode, offering users guides to tourist attractions and local favorites in their destination, along with an enhancement to Uber Eats that introduces a "room service" feature to help users order commonly forgotten items. The company is continuously innovating, with plans to include curated dining options and reservation capabilities through OpenTable, along with a new service called "Eats for the Way," which allows passengers in an Uber Black to order snacks or drinks for their ride.