Report: Uber Replaces 10% of Customer Service Staff With AI. What Could Go Wrong?

Uber laid off 10% of its customer service staff, part of its Community Operations team, and plans to replace them with AI, according to an internal memo viewed by Bloomberg. Megha Yethadka, Uber's VP of global community operations, said the unit had made strides in AI but needed an effective organization to layer AI on, as the company's customer service operations had become too complex and siloed. The move follows similar AI deployments by Klarna, Airbnb, and Bank of America, and comes amid ongoing user complaints about Uber's customer support on Reddit and X.

The next time you reach out to Uber’s customer support, don’t be surprised if you receive an AI-generated response. In an effort to simplify operations, the company has laid off 10% of its customer service staff and is planning to replace them with AI, Bloomberg reports https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/ai-not-trigger-employment-collapse-044831377.html . The affected employees are part of Uber’s Community Operations team and were informed of the layoffs on Wednesday. In addition to the workforce reduction, Uber has asked employees who have been working from home to comply with the company’s return-to-office mandate. Both measures are reportedly intended to fix Uber’s fragmented customer service operations and improve overall efficiency. “Our organization has become too complex and siloed,” Megha Yethadka, Uber’s VP of global community operations, wrote in an internal memo viewed by Bloomberg. She added that the unit had made strides in AI, “but to unlock this potential, we need an effective organization to layer AI on. We cannot scale frontier technology on top of fragmented processes.” It’s no longer unusual for tech-reliant companies to use AI assistants for customer service. Klarna https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/klarna-ai-assistant-handles-two-thirds-of-customer-service-chats-in-its-first-month-302072744.html , Airbnb https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/13/airbnb-says-a-third-of-its-customer-support-is-now-handled-by-ai-in-the-u-s-and-canada/ , Bank of America https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bofa-enhances-ai-powered-tool-resolve-client-needs-faster-2026-07-21/ , and several others have already deployed them. In many cases, this could lead to job cuts, putting frustrated customers at the mercy of an AI. Users https://www.reddit.com/r/uberdrivers/comments/1iezp4s/why does uber lack any customer service for such/ on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/UberEATS/comments/1if9hvv/yo honestly what is wrong with uber customer/ and X https://x.com/agrawalsubham7/status/2080250779911537033?s=20 have repeatedly expressed their displeasure with Uber’s customer support team, whether they're seeking answers about charges, no-show bookings, or driver misconduct /mobile-apps/165883/uber-tightens-up-background-checks-on-drivers . “They are the biggest rideshare company and yet their customer service for riders and drivers is s t. How does that make sense?,” wrote https://www.reddit.com/r/uberdrivers/comments/1iezp4s/why does uber lack any customer service for such/ a user on Reddit last year. “Why would you slack so much on such a key area that can’t be that expensive to run especially with as much money as they make and how long they have been around.”