Uber Technologies plans to launch an AI assistant powered by OpenAI technology to aid drivers in shifting to electric vehicles (EVs) as part of its emissions-reduction initiatives.
The ride-hailing company revealed the integration with OpenAI’s new flagship model — which is capable of holding human-like conversations and reasoning across text, voice, and visual — during its Go-Get event in London on Tuesday.
Newsng understands that the chatbot will provide personalized advice based on drivers’ locations and available incentives.
Uber also intends to broaden its use to tackle queries beyond EVs in early 2025.
According to Sachin Kansal, Uber’s vice president of product management, the driver AI assistant is currently in beta testing and will be available with EV-specific queries and other use cases within the next few months.
Currently, around 180,000 Uber drivers in North America and Europe are shifting to electric vehicles each month.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted, “Uber drivers are adopting EVs five times faster than the average motorist in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. In London, nearly 30% of all miles driven on Uber are now electric.”
Uber is also launching an “EV Mentor” program, which pairs EV drivers with EV-curious drivers to answer questions about making the move.
As part of that effort, Uber Green, the company’s EV and hybrid option that debuted in 2020, is now an EV-only service in 40 cities and states worldwide, including key hubs such as New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, and Sydney.
“EV Preference,” another new feature for users, allows customers to hail only fully electric vehicles. That feature will be rolled out on the app over the coming months, and the company believes the option will “help a lot of riders go green,” said Kansal.
We earlier reported that Uber Technologies is taking a major step into the future by collaborating with WeRide, a Chinese self-driving startup.
This agreement, according to Tony Han, founder and CEO of WeRide intends to bring robotaxis to the United Arab Emirates, marking WeRide’s first engagement with a worldwide ride-sharing platform.
