#duolingo

qwant news | ‘Head-Exploding Moment’: Uber Executive Questions Value of Company’s AI Investment AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Uber’s chief operating officer, Andrew Macdonald, publicly questioned whether the company’s hefty AI spend is delivering real value, noting that higher AI token usage has not translated into a clear boost in useful consumer features. His concerns were sparked by CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga’s admission that Uber had already exhausted its 2026 Claude Code AI budget, prompting internal debates about token consumption, cost trade‑offs and potential effects on hiring. Macdonald emphasized that AI costs, while often perceived as “free” by individual employees experimenting with new use cases, accumulate substantially at the corporate level, and that executives have struggled to link spending directly to tangible outcomes. This skepticism mirrors a broader industry trend, with firms like Duolingo pulling back on AI‑centric performance metrics after employees argued that aggressive “token‑maxxing” did not necessarily improve work. The discussion highlights growing unease about AI investments that lack demonstrable ROI, even as companies such as Uber slow hiring to offset these expenditures. Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2026/05/27/head-exploding-moment-uber-executive-questions-value-of-companys-ai-investment/ #Uber #AndrewMacdonald #PraveenNeppalli #Duolingo #PraveenNeppalliNaga

Times of India | Uber COO Andrew Macdonald says AI 'tokenmaxxing' is becoming harder to justify AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Uber’s chief operating officer, Andrew Macdonald, warned that the company is finding it increasingly hard to justify the high costs of AI tools, especially the practice of “token‑maxxing” that consumes large amounts of model tokens without clear benefits. He noted that, after spending its entire budget for the Claude Code model by mid‑2022026, Uber sees no direct link between higher AI usage and proportional gains in consumer‑facing features, prompting a slowdown in hiring and a reallocation of funds toward AI investments. Similar concerns are emerging elsewhere: Duolingo has dropped AI usage from performance metrics after staff pushed back, and recent research shows that more token consumption does not necessarily improve AI‑driven outcomes, highlighting a broader industry reassessment of AI’s ROI. Read more: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/uber-coo-andrew-macdonald-says-ai-tokenmaxxing-is-becoming-harder-to-justify/articleshow/131325651.cms #Uber #AndrewMacdonald #DaraKhosrowshahi #Duolingo

BBC News | Why big tech is betting on cute mascots AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. Big tech firms are reviving cute cartoon mascots to humanise their brands, with Microsoft unveiling “Mico” for its Copilot AI and Apple introducing the unofficial “Little Finder Guy” for its new laptop. Marketing experts say such characters can boost market‑share growth and create lasting emotional bonds by giving cold, impersonal services a friendly, baby‑like face, a tactic now also being used by Google, Mozilla, Duolingo, Penguin and others. While companies tout the mascots’ expressive, customizable qualities and allow users to turn them off, scholars caution that marrying AI with cuddly avatars may manipulate consumers and heighten mistrust, even as the strategy reflects a broader push for warmth and familiarity amid growing consumer cynicism. Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99l1zzp8xzo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss #Apple #Microsoft #Google #Reddit #Duolingo

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