Uber Eats rolls out AI cart assistant for grocery shoppers

Uber Eats is stepping up its push into grocery delivery by adding artificial intelligence to the shopping cart.

The company said on Wednesday that its food delivery platform is introducing a new AI assistant designed to help customers build grocery baskets using simple text prompts or even photos of handwritten lists.

The feature is being rolled out across dozens of major retailers, including Safeway, Albertsons and Kroger.

It forms part of Uber’s wider strategy to deepen its grocery footprint as competition intensifies across the delivery market.

AI shopping tool

The new Cart Assistant allows users to create a grocery order by typing what they need or uploading an image of a handwritten shopping list.

The system then generates a cart based on the request.

Uber said the tool takes into account customer preferences and real-time store availability.

Shoppers can review and edit suggested items before checking out, giving them control over substitutions and final selections.

According to the company, the feature is built to sit directly inside the Uber Eats app.

It is designed to respond to everyday user behaviour, rather than require customers to navigate a separate tool.

Praveen Neppalli Naga, from Uber’s technology team, said in a release that Cart Assistant reflects how the company approaches AI, focusing on practical solutions inside the app that respond to real customer needs.

Grocery expansion

The AI launch comes as Uber and its main rival DoorDash continue expanding deeper into grocery delivery.

Both companies entered the space in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic, when demand for at-home shopping surged.

Their move has placed them in direct competition with Instacart, which has long focused on grocery fulfilment.

In recent months, Uber has added more retail partners to strengthen its offering, including Aldi and FreshDirect.

Last week, Uber said it had added five new stores to its grocery network. The expansion underlines how central supermarket delivery has become to the company’s broader delivery ambitions.

Restaurant AI tools

The grocery assistant follows other artificial intelligence initiatives unveiled by Uber in July.

At that time, the company introduced new AI tools for restaurant partners.

These included automated menu descriptions and summaries of customer reviews, aimed at helping restaurants present their offerings more clearly on the platform.

Uber and other technology platforms are increasingly weaving AI features into both customer-facing and merchant-facing products.

The focus is on improving discovery, simplifying ordering, and reducing friction across transactions.

Delivery growth

Uber’s delivery division has been posting strong growth. Gross bookings in the delivery business rose 26% year on year to $25.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

The figure highlights the scale of demand across food and grocery categories as platforms compete to lock in users and retailers.

By embedding AI into everyday shopping tasks, Uber is positioning its app as more than a meal delivery service.

The addition of the Cart Assistant suggests the company sees grocery as a core part of its long term delivery model.