Uber employees create AI copies of the CEO

“A member of my team said that some group has developed ‘AI Dara’. They basically do a presentation in front of it to prepare for presenting to me,” Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, told entrepreneur Steven Bartlett in the podcast The Diary of a CEO airs this week. AI copy helps staff edit slides and other aspects of presentations, he said.

When asked if there were concerns when employees introduced AI Dara to the board, Khosrowshahi replied that AI models can process large amounts of data but still have difficulty receiving and making decisions based on new information – something that executives like him must do. “I think when they learn in real time, we can all be replaced,” he said.

Uber applies AI in many activities, including supporting the operation of its ride-hailing service, which plays a key role. The company is also expanding its applications, for example establishing an AI Solutions division that pays independent contractors to provide AI training to customers.

AI could even bring more jobs to regular employees at Uber. For example, according to Khosrowshahi, about 30% of the company’s programmers are proficient in AI. This CEO said that if AI helps each Uber engineer work 25% more efficiently, he will hire more engineers because he wants the company to move faster.

However, in the future, AI may also limit the number of employees. Khosrowshahi mentioned a five-year perspective, as engineers increasingly increase performance, he will add AI agents and buy more GPUs from Nvidia instead of hiring more people.

Business Insider While it’s unclear how widespread CEO AI is at Uber, this is the latest example of employees using artificial intelligence in new ways to prepare for high-pressure workplace situations. This also raises questions about how far AI will “advance” on a company’s organizational chart as the application of this technology expands.

Some CEOs like Google’s Sundar Pichai claim AI could eventually replace them. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is also waiting for artificial intelligence to replace him. “I would be embarrassed if OpenAI wasn’t the first major company run by an AI CEO,” he said on the podcast Conversations with Tyler November last year.

In a survey conducted with hundreds of directors from Harvard University and MIT in 2023, 47% said that the CEO role should be completely automated by AI. The 2024 survey by consulting firm IT AND Digital also showed that nearly half of business leaders polled believe that AI can do their jobs.