Uber has set a $1,500 monthly limit for employee AI service usage, aiming for responsible development amid rising internal AI expenditures.
Uber has implemented a cap of $1,500 per month for each employee's use of AI services, particularly for programming tools like Claude Code and Cursor, as reported by Bloomberg.
Each AI service's costs are monitored individually, and employees can track their spending via an internal dashboard. In certain situations, they may request additional funding.
The company aims to ensure the "responsible" development of agent-based AI experiments with this spending limit, which was put into place in recent months and is specifically focused on coding tools.
This decision comes on the heels of a significant uptick in internal AI utilization. In April, Uber's Chief Technology Officer Pravin Npalli Naga indicated that the firm had already depleted its annual AI budget. Previously, Uber had encouraged extensive use of AI and ranked teams based on their activity levels.
In May, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that AI agents contribute to around 10% of the company's code modifications, with adoption rising among not just developers but also in legal and marketing departments.
Additionally, Uber has announced a slowdown in hiring, reflecting the influence of its internal AI initiatives.
COO Andrew McDonald noted the current difficulty in linking increased AI spending directly to the development of new customer-facing features, although he believes this relationship may become clearer in the future as internal metrics evolve.
It's also noteworthy that in November 2025, Uber launched a self-driving taxi service in Abu Dhabi.
