Uber Launches ChatGPT Work for 30,000 Office Employees

Uber expands access to ChatGPT Work to all of its office teams following an internal test. Approximately 30,000 employees are affected, with integrations planned into business tools. This decision comes a month after significant layoffs at headquarters.

Recent Layoffs and the Role of AI

A month before the rollout, Uber cut about 10% of its corporate workforce, totaling nearly 3,300 positions. Dara Khosrowshahi explained the intention to reduce management levels and the number of small teams, without mentioning AI in this announcement. However, some laid-off employees claimed that AI tools were performing significant parts of their tasks, such as answering questions on Slack or drafting messages for passengers and drivers. Uber had already cited AI as a reason for a previous layoff plan in July, which affected the customer service department.

Scope of Access and Announced Functions

Uber is granting access to ChatGPT Work to all of its office employees, a measure announced by Uber and OpenAI. About 30,000 people are involved. According to OpenAI, the tool can notably prepare meeting summaries. It is also expected to integrate with Slack and Gmail to facilitate information searches, create presentations, analyze data, and execute workflows within the applications used by teams.

Deployment After Pilot and Official Position

Before the general rollout, Uber tested ChatGPT Work with a group of 1,000 employees. Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's CTO, states the aim is to equip everyone with the tools to innovate, solve problems, and help shape the future of Uber as AI transforms work. The deployment follows last month's layoffs and was detailed on Thursday by Uber and OpenAI, who mention the opening to around 30,000 employees.