tech
Uber's CTO said the company is coming to the end of the tokenmaxxing era
Praveen Neppalli Naga said AI adoption at the company has quadrupled, but the efficient use of AI is now being prioritized.
TL;DR
- Uber's CTO, Praveen Neppalli Naga, declared the end of the 'tokenmaxxing' era, where companies urged employees to use AI as much as possible.
- Despite a quadrupling of users of frontier AI tools at Uber since the start of the year, per-AI-token costs have declined.
- Uber reduced costs by improving prompt caching, using better default models, enhancing visibility into AI usage, and experimenting with open-weight models.
- The next phase of AI adoption will focus on efficient usage rather than high token spending.
- Uber's finance chief noted significant productivity lifts and doubled code output for engineers using AI cost-efficiently.
- The tech industry generally is grappling with achieving better returns on AI investments, exploring strategies like model switching.
- New businesses are emerging to help companies reduce AI costs, offering consultancy and infrastructure solutions.