Uber Eats launches AI assistant to help with grocery cart creation

Uber Eats announced a new AI feature, “Cart Assistant,” on Wednesday designed to fill customers’ grocery carts faster and easier. The beta version is now available in the app.​

To use the new chatbot, users search for a grocery store in the Uber Eats app and tap the purple Cart Assistant icon on the store’s page to begin shopping. 

Customers can enter a list or upload an image of one, and Cart Assistant will automatically add the necessary items to their basket. This includes photos of handwritten lists or screenshots of recipes and their ingredients. Users can then customize the basket by swapping items for preferred brands or adding more products from the store.​

Uber Eats notes that Cart Assistant uses previous orders to prioritize familiar items — like your usual milk or favorite oatmeal — to make the experience more personalized.​

“Users were telling us they wanted a quicker way to shop, and we know how precious your time is,” Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga said in a statement. “Cart Assistant helps you get from idea to checkout in seconds.”

Cart Assistant could help Uber Eats better compete with other food delivery and grocery apps that are already integrating or developing AI chatbots.​ For example, Instacart launched an AI search tool powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2023 to help customers save time and receive personalized shopping recommendations. DoorDash was also reportedly testing an AI chatbot called DashAI that same year.​

Last year, both Uber Eats and rival DoorDash integrated with ChatGPT to streamline food ordering. With Uber Eats, U.S. users can browse local restaurants and menus in ChatGPT, then complete their purchase in the Uber Eats app. DoorDash’s integration allows users to request meal plans and automatically add all necessary ingredients to their DoorDash cart.

Notably, Bloomberg reported in 2023 that Uber Eats was developing an AI-powered chatbot that would supposedly ask users about their budget and food preferences, and help them place an order.​

Overall, Uber Eats is rapidly investing in AI, including tools for merchants like AI-generated menu descriptions, enhanced food photos, and customer review summaries.