Uber announces shuttle rides, features for caregivers and Costco perks

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2024

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Uber on Wednesday announced several new product updates at the company’s annual Go-Get showcase in New York City that aim to help its customers save money on rides and food.

The product updates reflect Uber’s continued push to drive growth and demand across its mobility and delivery business segments. The new features could help the company attract more riders and users to its app.

Here are the key new offerings the company announced:

Uber Shuttle

Riders looking for a more affordable way to get to the airport, work and live events, such as sports games and concerts, can reserve seats on an Uber Shuttle.

Uber has partnered with local shuttle services that will pick up riders and bring them to their destination. Uber said the shuttle services employ commercially licensed drivers, and users can tip and rate them directly within the Uber app.

The shuttles will have between 14 and 55 seats. Users can reserve up to five seats as early as seven days in advance, and they’ll receive a QR code ticket. Riders can track their shuttle’s location within 25 minutes of departure time.

The company said the shuttle will be a “fraction of the price” of a ride with UberX. The trip won’t be impacted by surge pricing.

Uber will start to roll out the feature at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and at select concert venues in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C., this summer. Uber said it will expand the offering in the future.

Uber Caregiver

Users who rely on caregivers for support in their day-to-day lives can add them directly to their profiles starting this summer. This will allow caregivers to book rides for people they care for and order medical supplies and groceries on their behalf.

The feature will also allow for three-way chats between drivers, riders and caregivers.

Uber said the user’s insurance benefits can be applied when applicable to help minimize out-of-pocket costs. Uber Caregiver will initially support Medicaid recipients, customers who are 65 and older with Medicare Advantage, and customers with commercial insurance from their employers.

Caregivers can sign up to be notified when other insurance providers are added.

Costco on Uber Eats

Uber said Costco will be available as an on-demand option within Uber Eats in select locations across the U.S. starting Wednesday.

Users can order products from Costco even if they are not members, but Uber said members will save between 15% and 20% compared with nonmembers.

Costco members can enter their member numbers in the Uber Eats app and are eligible for 20% off of Uber One, the company’s subscription membership.

Schedule UberX Share

Uber said it is launching a new feature on Wednesday that lets users schedule a shared ride in advance. The feature will save users around 25% on average compared with a typical ride on UberX, the company said. Riders can schedule their trips as soon as 10 minutes in advance.

Scheduled UberX Share rides are initially launching in cities with some of the highest return-to-office rates. This includes New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and San Diego. Uber said more locations will follow.

Uber One for Students

Uber will offer its Uber One membership program at a discount for college students. The program normally costs $9.99 per month, but it will be available to students at $4.99 a month.

The company said students will also get access to free items and special deals, such as daily discounts on their orders from Taco Bell, Domino’s and Starbucks.

The Uber One Student Plan is launching in the U.S. in May. It will roll out in Canada, New Zealand, Mexico and Australia in July, as well as in Japan and France in September.

Uber Eats Lists

Uber is introducing a new feature called “Lists” to Uber Eats that allows users to curate and share lists of restaurants and go-to spots. The company shared examples like “date night desserts” and “toddler-approved” meals.

Technology

How black boxes became key to solving airplane crashes

Published

5 hours ago

November 30, 2025

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How black boxes became key to solving airplane crashes

After the search for survivors and recovery of victims in tragic aviation accidents — like that of a UPS cargo plane shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky last month — comes the search for flight data and a cockpit voice recorder often called the “black box.”

Every commercial plane has them. Aerospace giants GE Aerospace and Honeywell are among a few companies that design them to be nearly indestructible so they can help investigators understand the cause of a crash.

“They’re very crucial because it’s one of the few sources of information that tells us what happened leading up to the accident,” said Chris Babcock, branch chief of the vehicle recorder division at the National Transportation Safety Board. “We can get a lot of information from parts and from the airplane.”

Commercial aircraft have become very complex. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner records thousands of different pieces of information. In the case of the Air India crash in June, data revealed both engine fuel switches were put into a cutoff position within one second of each other. A voice recording from inside the cockpit captured the pilots discussing the cutoffs.

“All of those parameters today can have a very huge impact on the investigation,” said former NTSB member John Goglia. “It’s our goal to to provide information back to our investigators who are on scene as quick as we can to help move the investigation forward.”

This crucial data can also help prevent future accidents. A crash can cost airlines or plane manufacturers hundreds of millions of dollars and leave victims’ families with a lifetime of grief.

But in some circumstances black boxes were destroyed or never found. Experts say further developments such as cockpit video recorders and real-time data streaming are needed.

“The technology is there. Crash worthy cockpit video recorders are already being installed in a lot of helicopters and other types of airplanes, but they’re not required,” said Jeff Guzzetti, aviation analyst and former accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB. “There’s privacy and cost issues involving cockpit video recorders but the NTSB has been recommending that the FAA require them for years now.”

Watch the video to learn more.

— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.

Technology

Stocks end November with mixed results despite a strong Thanksgiving week rally

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2025

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Stocks end November with mixed results despite a strong Thanksgiving week rally

Technology

Palantir has worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2025

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Palantir has worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off

CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp attends the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 15, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

It’s been a tough November for Palantir.

Shares of the software analytics provider dropped 16% for their worst month since August 2023 as investors dumped AI stocks due to valuation fears. Meanwhile, famed investor Michael Burry doubled down on the artificial intelligence trade and bet against the company.

Palantir started November off on a high note.

The Denver-based company topped Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Palantir also posted its second-straight $1 billion revenue quarter, but high valuation concerns contributed to a post-print selloff.

In a note to clients, Jefferies analysts called Palantir’s valuation “extreme” and argued investors would find better risk-reward in AI names such as Microsoft and Snowflake. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets raised concerns about the company’s “increasingly concentrated growth profile,” while Deutsche Bank called the valuation “very difficult to wrap our heads around.”

Adding fuel to the post-earnings selloff was the revelation that Burry is betting against Palantir and AI chipmaker Nvidia. Burry, who is widely known for predicting the housing crisis that occurred in 2008 and the portrayal of him in the film “The Big Short,” later accused hyperscalers of artificially boosting earnings.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp vocally hit the front lines, appearing twice in one week on CNBC, where he accused Burry of “market manipulation” and called the investor’s actions “egregious.”

“The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is bats— crazy,” Karp told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Despite the vicious selloff, Palantir has notched some deal wins this month. That included a multiyear contract with consulting firm PwC to speed up AI adoption in the U.K. and a deal with aircraft engine maintenance company FTAI.

But those announcements did little to shake off valuation worries that have haunted all AI-tied companies in November.

Across the board, investors have viciously ditched the high-priced group, citing fears of stretched valuations and a bubble.

In November, Nvidia pulled back more than 12%, while Microsoft and Amazon dropped about 5% each. Quantum computing names such as Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum have shed more than a third of their value.

Apple and Alphabet were the only Magnificent 7 stocks to end the month with gains.

Sill, questions linger over Palantir’s valuation, and those worries aren’t a new concern.

Even after its steep price drop, the company’s stock trades at 233 times forward earnings. By comparison, Nvidia and Alphabet traded at about 38 times and 30 times, respectively, at Friday’s close.

Karp, who has long defended the company, didn’t miss an opportunity to clap back at his critics, arguing in a letter to shareholders that the company is making it feasible for everyday investors to attain rates of return once “limited to the most successful venture capitalists in Palo Alto.”

“Please turn on the conventional television and see how unhappy those that didn’t invest in us are,” Karp said during an earnings call. “Enjoy, get some popcorn. They’re crying. We are every day making this company better, and we’re doing it for this nation, for allied countries.”

Palantir declined to comment for this story.

WATCH: Palantir CEO Alex Karp: We’ve printed venture results for the average American