Latest news with #UberFreight
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Uber Freight bets big on AI tools to grow its business
Three years ago, as the pandemic caused chaos for companies big and small, Colgate-Palmolive's chief supply chain officer Luciano Sieber orchestrated a 'logistics blitz.' The result gave Sieber a better understanding of how Colgate-Palmolive moves its products around the world. But it stuck Sieber with another problem: too much data. About a year ago, Sieber says he found a solution to that problem with Uber Freight. The ride-hailing service's long-running logistics and analytics arm has been developing new ways to wrangle large amounts of data by using artificial intelligence. Colgate-Palmolive became one of the first companies to use one of its newest products, a logistics-focused LLM Uber Freight calls Insights AI. Now, Uber Freight is more formally launching a suite of AI features to shippers around the world as part of its existing supply chain software. That includes an expansion of Insights AI, which Uber Freight quietly launched in 2023, as well as more than 30 AI agents built to 'execute key logistics tasks throughout the freight lifecycle.' Uber Freight is not alone in trying to tame unruly supply chains with modern artificial intelligence tools. Flexport announced its own suite of AI tools in February, and there are myriad startups trying to help companies wrangle data, reduce inventory stockpiles, and better predict supply and demand. But Uber Freight is betting its AI solutions can make an immediate impact on the bottom line of both its blue-chip customers and the nearly 10,000 other shippers it works with. That's largely because of the knowledge base and relationships it has established in the eight years since it was created to match long-haul truckers with shippers. 'Supply chain is inherently a data-rich problem. It's complex, it's nuanced, and AI can serve a fundamental role in shaping it and accelerating it,' Uber Freight founder Lior Ron said in an interview with TechCrunch. Uber Freight began as a more straightforward brokerage business model when it launched in 2017. But the Uber subsidiary has steadily evolved over the years into more of a service provider to companies that ship goods around the world. Many modern companies are trying to find ways to incorporate artificial intelligence (often to mixed results); it should come as no surprise that Uber Freight is putting the technology front and center. After all, both Ron's undergraduate work and his master's thesis were centered around AI -- way back 'in the dark ages when it was called 'neural networks,'' he joked. Ron continued to work with machine learning technology when he was running Google Maps from 2007 until 2016. It was there, he said, that he saw 'the potential of digitizing the physical universe.' 'That sort of led me to the foundational belief, nine years ago, that supply chain is fundamentally a data-first, technology-first challenge that could be accelerated with data connectivity, and over time, AI,' he said. 'We've been building towards this moment, I think, since I started Uber Freight.' Ron said Uber Freight has used machine learning in its work since the beginning. But it was around two years ago that the team started trying to work with more advanced generative AI capabilities. That 'hasn't been an easy road,' Ron said. Uber Freight's initial attempts at building a sort of 'co-pilot for logistics' were riddled with hallucinations and returned accurate answers only around 60% to 70% of the time. Now that technology has been 'battle tested' and is 'driving real business outcomes,' with an accuracy rate of 98%, according to Ron. The company says the Insights AI model has been trained on internal and external data related to the $20 billion worth of freight that it helps move every year. It also leverages multiple undisclosed AI models "providing optimal combinations of price, precision and performance," according to Uber Freight. Ron said this AI push creates new ways for customers to work with the data related to their supply chain. They can ask Insights AI to quickly pull up, say, the worst-performing origin points for particular shipments. Or they can ask to be shown 'all shipments to CVS in 2023.' Ron stressed that the queries can be far more complex than this, too, and the model always keeps up. Insights AI is presented to customers much like other popular LLM interfaces; it will also show its work and make clear where all the data is coming from, just like other reasoning models. All of this lets a customer 'gain insights on your network much faster, at close to 100% accuracy instantly, versus formulating what you want to know, sending it to some analysts, and waiting for two weeks for the PowerPoint presentation to come back to have a discussion,' Ron said. Uber Freight works with a lot of Fortune 500 companies, but it found a particularly willing partner in Colgate-Palmolive to trial Insights AI and its other new tools. The conglomerate already makes a suite of AI models available to all of its employees, according to Sieber. It also makes those workers take a mandatory training on AI ethics that was developed in-house. 'I think it's great, because it turns the conversation from fear into, 'how that makes me more efficient, and how [do] I become a better professional and deliver more by having access and using those new technologies,'' Sieber said. For instance, Sieber said his company has used Insights AI to easily identify carriers who are accepting fewer shipments than they're contractually obligated to move. From there, they can work out why those levels are low, and either come up with a solution to get the carrier back in compliance or drop them in favor of another. This was previously a challenge to solve in real time, Sieber said, because companies like Colgate-Palmolive work with thousands of carriers. Each of those might work with different systems and workflows, and all of that resulting information was never really centrally managed. The next step with AI, both Sieber and Ron said, has been finding ways to create more proactive solutions. Ron said this is another place Uber Freight can flex its data strengths. 'We know the facilities, we know the lanes, we know the prices,' he said. 'What do you want to know?' These more proactive integrations come in the form of alerts that tell a customer like Colgate-Palmolive they're overpaying on certain routes, or that there are faster options available for a particular shipment. Any single suggestion like that may only save a few hundred, or perhaps a few thousand, dollars. But aggregated over an entire network, it could make a big difference. That's why, when asked, Sieber was quick to answer that Colgate-Palmolive's chief financial officer is the executive who's most pleased with what Uber Freight's enabled. 'He loves to see logistics costs coming down,' Sieber laughed. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
21-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Uber Freight bets big on AI tools to grow its business
Three years ago, as the pandemic caused chaos for companies big and small, Colgate-Palmolive's chief supply chain officer Luciano Sieber orchestrated a 'logistics blitz.' The result gave Sieber a better understanding of how Colgate-Palmolive moves its products around the world. But it stuck Sieber with another problem: too much data. About a year ago, Sieber says he found a solution to that problem with Uber Freight. The ride-hailing service's long-running logistics and analytics arm has been developing new ways to wrangle large amounts of data by using artificial intelligence. Colgate-Palmolive became one of the first companies to use one of its newest products, a a logistics-focused LLM Uber Freight calls Inisights AI. Now, Uber Freight is more formally launching a suite of AI features to shippers around the world as part of its existing supply chain software. That includes an expansion of Insights AI, which Uber Freight quietly launched in 2023, as well as more than 30 AI agents built to 'execute key logistics tasks throughout the freight lifecycle.' Uber Freight is not alone in trying to tame unruly supply chains with modern artificial intelligence tools. Flexport announced its own suite of AI tools in February, and there are myriad startups trying to help companies wrangle data, reduce inventory stockpiles, and better predict supply and demand. But Uber Freight is betting its AI solutions can make an immediate impact on the bottom line of both its blue-chip customers and the nearly 10,000 other shippers it works with. That's largely because of the knowledge base and relationships it has established in the eight years since it was created to match long-haul truckers with shippers. 'Supply chain is inherently a data-rich problem. It's complex, it's nuanced, and AI can serve a fundamental role in shaping it and accelerating it,' Uber Freight founder Lior Ron said in an interview with TechCrunch. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW 'We've been building towards this moment' Uber Freight began as a more straightforward brokerage business model when it launched in 2017. But the Uber subsidiary has steadily evolved over the years into more of a service provider to companies that ship goods around the world. Many modern companies are trying to find ways to incorporate artificial intelligence (often to mixed results); it should come as no surprise that Uber Freight is putting the technology front and center. After all, both Ron's undergraduate work and his master thesis were centered around AI – way back 'in the dark ages when it was called 'neural networks,'' he joked. Ron continued to work with machine learning technology when he was running Google Maps from 2007 until 2016. It was there, he said, that he saw 'the potential of digitizing the physical universe.' 'That sort of led me to the foundational belief, nine years ago, that supply chain is fundamentally a data-first, technology-first challenge that could be accelerated with data connectivity, and over time, AI,' he said. 'We've been building towards this moment, I think, since I started Uber Freight.' Ron said Uber Freight has used machine learning in its work since the beginning. But it was around two years ago that the team started trying to work with more advanced generative AI capabilities. That 'hasn't been an easy road,' Ron said. Uber Freight's initial attempts at building a sort of 'co-pilot for logistics' were riddled with hallucinations and returned accurate answers only around 60% to 70% of the time. Now that technology has been 'battle tested' and is 'driving real business outcomes,' with an accuracy rate of 98%, according to Ron. The company says the Insights AI model has been trained on internal and external data related to the $20 billion worth of freight that it helps move every year. It also leverages multiple undisclosed AI models 'providing optimal combinations of price, precision and performance,' according to Uber Freight. Ron said this AI push creates new ways for customers to work with the data related to their supply chain. They can ask Insights AI to quickly pull up, say, the worst-performing origin points for particular shipments. Or they can ask to be shown 'all shipments to CVS in 2023.' Ron stressed that the queries can be far more complex than this, too, and the model always keeps up. Insights AI is presented to customers much like other popular LLM interfaces; it will also show its work and make clear where all the data is coming from, just like other reasoning models. All of this lets a customer 'gain insights on your network much faster, at close to 100% accuracy instantly, versus formulating what you want to know, sending it to some analysts, and waiting for two weeks for the PowerPoint presentation to come back to have a discussion,' Ron said. 'What do you want to know?' Uber Freight works with a lot of Fortune 500 companies, but it found a particularly willing partner in Colgate-Palmolive to trial Insights AI and its other new tools. The conglomerate already makes a suite of AI models available to all of its employees, according to Sieber. It also makes those workers take a mandatory training on AI ethics that was developed in-house. 'I think it's great, because it turns the conversation from fear into, 'how that makes me more efficient, and how [do] I become a better professional and deliver more by having access and using those new technologies,' Sieber said. For instance, Sieber said his company has used Insights AI to easily identify carriers who are accepting fewer shipments than they're contractually obligated to to move. From there, they can work out why those levels are low, and either come up with a solution to get the carrier back in compliance or drop them in favor of another. This was previously a challenge to solve in real time, Sieber said, because companies like Colgate-Palmolive work with thousands of carriers. Each of those might work with different systems and workflows, and all of that resulting information was never really centrally managed. The next step with AI, both Sieber and Ron said, has been finding ways to create more proactive solutions. Ron said this is another place Uber Freight can flex its data strengths. 'We know the facilities, we know the lanes, we know the prices,' he said. 'What do you want to know?' These more proactive integrations come in the form of alerts that tell a customer like Colgate-Palmolive they're overpaying on certain routes, or that there are faster options available for a particular shipment. Any single suggestion like that may only save a few hundred, or perhaps a few thousand dollars. But aggregated over an entire network, it could make a big difference. That's why, when asked, Sieber was quick to answer that Colgate-Palmolive's chief financial officer is the executive who's most pleased with what Uber Freight's enabled. 'He loves to see logistics costs coming down,' Sieber laughed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Uber Freight's best EBITDA in years gets little attention
Uber Freight barely got a mention in the parent company's first-quarter earnings report even though its financial performance was one of the best it has had in several quarters. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the digital brokerage came in at negative $7 million on revenue figures that were less than both the first quarter of 2024 and sequentially from 2024's fourth quarter. That is the smallest EBITDA loss since the company recorded a small EBITDA profit of $1 million in the third quarter of 2022. Since then, Uber Freight quarterly EBITDA losses have been as large as $22 million in 2024's fourth quarter and $23 million in the first quarter of EBITDA improvement was not a function of higher revenue. Revenue at Uber Freight was $1.26 billion in the first quarter. A year ago it was $1.284 billion. Sequentially, it was $1.275 billion in the fourth quarter, 1% more than what was recorded in the first quarter. Uber Freight's (NYSE: UBER) revenue is about 6% of the gross bookings of its Mobility division. However, revenue to Uber from Mobility, which is different from gross bookings, was $6.5 billion in the first quarter. Uber Freight's revenue of $1.279 billion – essentially equal to its gross bookings – is about 19.4% of that. The Mobility division had EBITDA of approximately $1.75 billion compared to the negative EBITDA of $7 million at Freight. The only reference to any developments at Uber Freight in either the press release accompanying the earnings or the prepared remarks of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was to the fact that Uber Freight is a customer of the autonomous truck initiative in Texas that has received extensive coverage was no reference to Uber Freight on the company's call with analysts. The overall silence connected to the earnings report stands in contrast to its recent customer meeting in Atlanta, with an ambitious growth agenda outlined by Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron. More articles by John Kingston New Jersey, feds take opposite paths on independent contractor rules Leadership at C.H. Robinson celebrates 1-year milestone by posting another strong quarter RXO finds positives in quarter marked by soft market and profit loss The post Uber Freight's best EBITDA in years gets little attention appeared first on FreightWaves. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- TechCrunch
Aurora to add night driving, new routes as it ramps driverless trucking
Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora Innovation plans to expand on the success of its first driverless commercial launch and add night driving to its operations. Aurora said Thursday in the second half of 2025 it will start sending its self-driving trucks out at night and during adverse weather conditions like rain or heavy wind. The company, which provided the update in its first-quarter shareholder letter, also plans to expand its driverless trucking route beyond Dallas to Houston, and into El Paso and Phoenix. Aurora already runs freight with self-driving trucks in those conditions, but with a human safety operator behind the wheel. The company said it has completed more than 4,000 miles in a single self-driving truck without a driver ruuning freight for its launch customers Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight. In the week since Aurora's commercial launch, the company has already expanded to two driverless trucks operating on a daily basis, and says it expects to operate 'tens of trucks' by the end of 2025. The milestone, and future plans come alongside another major shift at the company: the resignation of co-founder and chief product officer Sterling Anderson. Aurora shared new details Thursday in its first-quarter shareholder letter about plans to grow its autonomous freight service, signaling it will offer more specific timelines for key milestones as it expands. Aurora reported $211 million in operating expenses, including $153 million for R&D. It used $142 million in operating cash and $8 million in capex in the first quarter, ending with nearly $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. Aurora expects to spend $175 to $185 million per quarter for the rest of this year. The company didn't provide revenue figures in its Q1 report. Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | BOOK NOW In the short-term, Aurora plans to own, operate, maintain and insure its own trucks – made available on the Uber Freight network – for customers. The company is working with partners Paccar and Volvo Trucks to build self-driving trucks at scale. Starting in 2027 or earlier, Aurora expects customers to buy those trucks directly from manufacturers so it can shift to a driver-as-a-service model.
Epoch Times
04-05-2025
- Automotive
- Epoch Times
First Driverless Heavy Duty Trucking Service Launched on US Public Roads
Pennsylvania-based Aurora Innovation, Inc. has launched commercial self-driving trucking service in the state of Texas, conducting customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston starting this week, the company said in a May 1 The driverless trucking service will use Aurora's flagship product 'Aurora Driver,' a self-driving 'To date, the Aurora Driver has completed over 1,200 miles without a driver,' said the statement. 'The milestone makes Aurora the first company to operate a commercial self-driving service with heavy-duty trucks on public roads.' 'Aurora plans to expand its driverless service to El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, by the end of 2025.' Aurora's launch customers are logistics companies Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines, both of which have had 'long-standing supervised commercial pilots with Aurora.' Aurora Driver is reportedly an SAE L4 self-driving system that is being deployed for long-haul trucking for the first time. Related Stories 5/1/2025 4/24/2025 SAE L4 refers to Level 4 of the nonprofit SAE International's measure of driving At the L4 level, the features of the driverless system can 'drive the vehicle under limited conditions and will not operate unless all required conditions are met,' according to the SAE website. Pedals and steering wheels may or may not be installed in SAE L4 vehicles. The automated features of the system won't require a person sitting inside the vehicle to take over driving. 'We founded Aurora to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly,' said Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Aurora. 'Riding in the back seat for our inaugural trip was an honor of a lifetime—the Aurora Driver performed perfectly.' Meanwhile, autonomous trucks pose a critical employment issue for truck drivers. In an April 8 The bill requires that all commercial vehicles weighing over 26,000 pounds have a trained human safety operator behind the wheel. 'For Big Tech companies to think they can come into any state and replace the jobs of hardworking union members with this dangerous and inferior technology is an insult to professional drivers everywhere,' said Peter Finn, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7. 'SB 395 is critical to protecting the middle class. That is why we are demanding that Nevada lawmakers vote in favor of this legislation.' The Aurora Safety, DOT Relaxes Rules Aurora said its flagship truck is fitted with a powerful computer and sensors that enable it to operate safely on highways. 'In over four years of supervised pilot hauls, the Aurora Driver has delivered over 10,000 customer loads across three million autonomous miles,' the company said. 'It has also demonstrated extraordinary capabilities, including predicting red light runners, avoiding collisions, and detecting pedestrians in the dark hundreds of meters away.' Before beginning operations, Aurora had completed a 'safety case' for its vehicles. A safety case is a documented assurance of the vehicle maintaining safety. The company said it had briefed several government entities about Aurora Driver's readiness for driverless operations, including the National Transportation Safety Board, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Texas Department of Transportation. Aurora's driverless truck service launch comes as the Department of Transportation (DOT) Specifically, the agency will expand the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program to domestically-produced automated vehicles (AVs) as well. The program currently only applies to imported AVs. 'This Administration understands that we're in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn't be higher,' Advocacy group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety criticized the decision, saying that 'troubling incidents' involving automated vehicles have already occurred in multiple cities. If proper safety regulations, safeguards, transparency, and accountability are not maintained regarding the issue, the deployment of AVs could result in 'deadly consequences,' it said. John Bozzella, CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, welcomed the DOT move, calling it 'Unequivocally good—and overdue—news,' the group said in an April 24 'Yes, we've got to move smartly and safely. But this announcement shows the administration is also proceeding with a sense of urgency, so we don't cede AV leadership to China and other countries. Time is of the essence,' he added.
