Overview
- Executives on recent quarterly earnings calls reported that third‑party AI agents account for a vanishing share of activity on their apps.
- Uber said agents placed just four ride bookings and about 500 Uber Eats orders during a peak week, while DoorDash reported only several hundred agent orders in total and Airbnb called its agent bookings a very non‑material number.
- Companies point to simple existing workflows and consumer hesitancy to share payment and personal data as key reasons people are not handing routine errands to agents.
- All three platforms are building their own AI features, running controlled experiments, and negotiating commercial and safety terms with agent vendors as they weigh third‑party access.
- Security researchers and vendors have flagged risks such as unauthorized access and reward‑hacking, so analysts expect early value to come from tooling, controlled tests and stricter controls rather than large immediate transaction volumes.