Uber Eats launches Cart Assistant to build grocery carts from photos and text in seconds
8 Sources
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Uber Eats launches AI assistant to help with grocery cart creation | TechCrunch
Uber Eats announced a new AI feature, "Cart Assistant," on Wednesday designed to fill customers' grocery carts faster and easier. The beta version is now available in the app. To use the new chatbot, users search for a grocery store in the Uber Eats app and tap the purple Cart Assistant icon on
[2]
Uber Eats adds AI assistant to help with grocery shopping
Uber announced a new AI feature called "Cart Assistant" for grocery shopping in its Uber Eats app. The new feature works a couple different ways. You can use text prompts, as you would with any other AI chatbot, to ask it to build a grocery list for you. Or you can upload a picture of your
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Uber Eats' new Cart Assistant feature is an AI hack for your grocery shopping
If there's any area of your life that you might be willing to introduce more AI into, it's likely something as mundane as grocery shopping. That's what Uber is betting on with its new AI-powered in the Uber Eats app. Cart Assistant lets you "build grocery baskets faster and with less effort" by
[4]
Uber Eats launches AI cart assistant for grocery delivery
An Uber Eats bag in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Uber Eats is bringing artificial intelligence to your next grocery shopping list. The ride-hailing company said on Wednesday that its food delivery platform is debuting a new AI assistant that lets customers
[5]
Uber Eats wants to take grocery shopping off your to-do list
Driving the news: Uber announced the launch of Cart Assistant in the U.S. Wednesday, a beta feature that turns grocery lists and photos -- including handwritten notes or recipe screenshots -- into checkout-ready baskets in a few taps. * The tool launches on iOS this week, with an Android version
[6]
Uber Eats Cart Assistant lets you shop faster with fewer taps
Uber Eats is testing a new feature that tries to remove the most annoying part of ordering groceries, the endless searching and tapping. It's called Cart Assistant, and it can take a typed list or an image and draft a basket for you inside the app. It's rolling out as a beta. You'll see it as a
[7]
Uber Eats will use your order history to build your next cart
Uber Eats introduced Cart Assistant, an AI-powered feature, on Wednesday, releasing a beta version within its app to accelerate grocery cart assembly for customers. To activate the assistant, users locate a grocery store in the Uber Eats interface and tap the purple Cart Assistant icon displayed
[8]
Uber Eats is Trying to Take a Bite Out of Instacart With Its Latest Product Release | The Motley Fool
Uber (UBER 3.39%) Eats on Wednesday launched its new Cart Assistant, a new AI-powered tool to make grocery shopping even easier. Cart Assistant can take a handwritten shopping list or a screenshot of a recipe and automatically put those items in your online shopping basket, showing details like
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Uber Eats introduced Cart Assistant, an AI-powered feature that transforms grocery shopping by automatically filling carts from uploaded images or typed lists. The beta tool works with major retailers like Kroger, Safeway, and Albertsons, using order history to prioritize familiar brands. The launch intensifies competition with Instacart and DoorDash in AI-driven grocery delivery.
Uber Eats Introduces AI Assistant for Faster Grocery Shopping
Uber Eats announced the launch of Cart Assistant on Wednesday, an AI-powered feature designed to accelerate grocery cart creation and reduce the time customers spend building shopping lists
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. The beta feature allows users to generate shopping lists by either typing text prompts or uploading photos of shopping lists, including handwritten notes or screenshots of recipes2
. This AI hack for your grocery shopping transforms mundane list-making into a streamlined, automated process that gets users from idea to checkout in seconds.
Source: The Verge
To access the tool, customers search for a participating grocery store in the Uber Eats app and tap the purple Cart Assistant icon on the store's page
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. The AI assistant then automatically populates the cart with requested items based on real-time availability and pricing. Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's chief technology officer, emphasized that the feature addresses genuine customer needs: "Users were telling us they wanted a quicker way to shop, and we know how precious your time is"1
.
Source: Engadget
Personalization Through Order History Drives User Convenience
Cart Assistant leverages order history to deliver personalization that prioritizes familiar items, such as preferred milk brands or favorite oatmeal
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. Users can be as generic as typing "milk, eggs, cereal," and the AI chatbots will populate the cart with their preferred brands based on past purchases2
. This focus on user convenience allows customers to maintain full control, with the ability to swap items, adjust quantities, or add forgotten products after the initial cart is generated5
.The feature factors in item availability before making selections and displays prices along with any available promotions
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. However, Uber acknowledges that as a beta feature, Cart Assistant may make mistakes and encourages users to double-check results before placing orders2
.Major Retailers Partner to Streamline Grocery Shopping
At launch, Cart Assistant works with dozens of major grocery delivery service partners, including Albertsons, Aldi, CVS, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts, Walgreens, and Wegmans
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. More retailers will be added as the feature expands, with plans to introduce meal planning capabilities, full recipe inspiration, and the ability to ask follow-up questions in coming months2
.The tool launches on iOS this week, with an Android version planned for future release
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. Uber spokesperson Richard Foord confirmed that Cart Assistant draws on publicly available large language models as well as Uber's own AI stack, though he declined to specify whether OpenAI technology powers the chatbot2
.Related Stories
Intensifying Competition in AI-Driven Grocery Delivery
Cart Assistant positions Uber Eats to better compete with rivals already deploying AI chatbots in their platforms. Instacart launched an AI search tool powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT in 2023 to provide personalized shopping recommendations
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. DoorDash reportedly tested an AI chatbot called DashAI the same year and later integrated with ChatGPT to allow users to request meal plans and automatically add ingredients to their carts1
.Uber Eats itself integrated with ChatGPT last year, enabling U.S. users to browse restaurants and menus before completing purchases in the app
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. The company has been rapidly investing in AI tools for merchants as well, including AI-generated menu descriptions, enhanced food photos, and customer review summaries1
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.Naga told Axios that Cart Assistant represents Uber's broader strategy to build AI agents across its platform, as long as they deliver clear value for users
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. The shift toward agentic AI will test how much control consumers are willing to cede in exchange for convenience, making this launch a significant indicator of consumer appetite for AI-driven shopping experiences.References
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