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Travelers walk past a sign pointing toward the Uber ride-share vehicle pickup area at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2023.

Mario Tama | Getty Images

Uber is giving commuters new ways to travel and cut costs on frequent rides.

The ride-hailing company on Wednesday announced a route share feature on its platform, prepaid ride passes and special deals week for Uber One members at its annual Go-Get showcase.

Uber’s new features come as the company accelerates its leadership position in the ride-sharing market and seeks to offer more affordable alternatives for users. It also follows last week’s first-quarter earnings as Uber swung to a profit but fell short of revenue estimates.

“The goal for us as we build our products is to put people at the center of everything, and right now for us, it means making things a little easier, a little more predictable, and above all, just a little more — or a lot more — affordable,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the event.

Here are some of the big announcements from the annual product event.

Route Share

Users looking to save money on regular routes and willing to walk a short distance can select a shared ride with up to two other passengers through the new route-share feature.

The prepopulated routes run every 20 minutes along busy areas between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays. The initial program is slated to kick off in seven cities, including New York, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago.

Source: Uber

Uber said its new route-share fares will cost up to 50% less than an UberX option, and that it is working to partner with employers on qualifying the feature for commuter benefits. Users can book a seat from 7 days to 10 minutes before a pickup departure.

Ride Passes

Riders on Uber can now prepurchase two different types of ride passes to hold fares on frequented routes during a one-hour period every day. For $2.99 a month, riders can buy a price lock pass that holds a price between two locations for one hour every day. The pass expires after 30 days or a savings total of $50.

The feature gives riders a way to avoid surge pricing.

Ride Passes roll out in 10 cities on Wednesday, including Dallas, Orlando and San Francisco, and can be purchased for up to 10 routes a month. Uber will charge users a lower price if the fare is cheaper than the pass at departure time.

The company also debuted a prepaid pass option, allowing users to pay in advance and stock up on regular monthly trips. Uber’s pass option comes in bundles of 5, 10, 15 and 20-ride increments, with corresponding discounts between 5% and 20%.

Both pass options will be available on teen accounts in the fall, Uber said. The route share and ride passes will be available in a new commuter hub feature on the app coming later this year.

Shared autonomous rides

Uber is also expanding its autonomous vehicle partnership with Volkswagen.

The company will start testing shared AV rides later this year and is aiming for a launch in Los Angeles in 2026.

Uber rolled out autonomous rides in Austin, Texas, in March through its agreement with Alphabet-owned Waymo and is preparing for an Atlanta launch this summer. The company announced the partnership in May 2023. Autonomous Waymo rides are also currently offered through the Uber app in Phoenix, but the company does not directly manage that fleet.

Khosrowshahi called AVs “the single greatest opportunity ahead for Uber” during the company’s earnings call last week and said the Austin debut “exceeded” expectations. The company previously had an AV unit that it sold in 2020 as it faced high costs and a series of safety challenges, including a fatal accident.

Along with Volkswagen and Waymo, Uber has joined forces with Avride, May Mobility and self-driving trucking company Aurora for autonomous ride-sharing and freight services in the U.S. The company has partnerships with WeRide, Pony.AI and Momenta internationally.

Uber One Member Days

Uber is taking a page out of Amazon’s book by offering its own variation of the e-commerce giant’s beloved Prime Day, with special offers between May 16 and 23 for Uber One members.

Some of those deals include 50% off shared rides and 20% off Uber Black. The platform is also adding a new benefit of 10% back in Uber credits for users that use Uber Rent or book Lime rides.

UberEats partnership with OpenTable

UberEats also announced a partnership with OpenTable to allow users to book reservations and rides.

The new feature, powered by OpenTable, launches in six countries including the U.S. and Australia.

Through the partnership, users can book restaurant reservations and get a discount on rides. OpenTable members will also be able to transfer points to Uber and UberEats. The company is also offering OpenTable VIPs a six-month free trial of Uber One.

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Meta puts the brakes on its massive AI talent spending spree

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Meta puts the brakes on its massive AI talent spending spree

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025.

Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

Meta Platforms has paused hiring for its new artificial intelligence division, ending a spending spree that saw it acquire a wave of expensive hires in AI researchers and engineers, the company confirmed Thursday. 

The pause was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said that the freeze went into effect last week and came amid a broader restructuring of the group, citing people familiar with the matter. 

In a statement shared with CNBC, a Meta spokesperson said that the pause was simply “some basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises.”

According to the WSJ report, a recent restructuring inside Meta has divided its AI efforts into four teams. That includes a team focused on building machine superintelligence, dubbed the “TBD lab,” or “To Be Determined,” an AI products division, an infrastructure division, and a division that focuses on longer-term projects and exploration.

It added that all four groups belong to “Meta Superintelligence Labs,” a name that reflects Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s desire to build AI that can outperform the smartest humans on cognitive tasks.

In pursuit of that goal, Meta has been aggressively spending on AI this year. That included efforts to poach top talent from other AI companies, with offers said to include signing bonuses as high as $100 million.  

In one of its most aggressive moves, Meta acquired Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, as part of a deal that saw the Facebook parent dish out $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the AI startup. 

Wang now leads the company’s AI lab focused on advancing its Llama series of open-source large language models.

Too much spending?

While Meta’s aggressive hiring strategy has caught headlines in recent months for their high price tags, other megacap tech companies have also been pouring billions into AI talent, as well as R&D and AI infrastructure. 

However, the sudden AI hiring pause by the owner of Facebook and Instagram comes amid growing concerns that investments in AI are moving too fast and a broader sell-off of U.S. technology stocks this week.

Earlier this week, it was reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had told a group of journalists that he believes AI is in a bubble. 

However, many tech analysts and investors disagree with the notion of an AI bubble. 

“Altman is the golden child of the AI Revolution, and there could be aspects of the AI food chain that show some froth over time, but overall, we believe tech stocks are undervalued relative to this 4th Industrial Revolution,” said tech analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.

He also dismissed the idea that Meta might be cutting back on AI spending in a meaningful way, saying that Meta is simply in “digestion mode” after a massive spending spree. 

“After making several acquisition-sized offers and hires in the nine-figure range, I see the hiring freeze as a natural resting point for Meta,” added Daniel Newman, CEO at Futurum Group.

Before pouring more investment into its AI teams, the company likely needs time to place and access its new talent and determine whether they are ready to make the type of breakthroughs the company is looking for, he added. 

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Microsoft’s gutting of discounts for some clients likely baked into guidance, analyst says

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Microsoft's gutting of discounts for some clients likely baked into guidance, analyst says

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Axel Springer Neubau in Berlin on Oct. 17, 2023

Ben Kriemann | Getty Images

Microsoft said last week that it plans to stop providing discounts on enterprise purchases of its Microsoft 365 productivity software subscriptions and other cloud applications.

Since the announcement, analysts have published estimates on how much more customers will end up paying. But for investors trying to figure out what it all means to Microsoft’s financials, analysts at UBS said the change is already factored into guidance.

“In our view, it is safe to assume that the impact of the pricing change” was included in Microsoft’s forecast, the analysts wrote in a report late Tuesday. They have a buy rating on the stock.

Microsoft’s disclosure, on Aug. 12, came two weeks after the software company, it its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, issued a forecast that included double-digit year-over-year revenue growth for the new fiscal year. The shares rose 4% after the report.

Microsoft said in its blog post announcing the pricing change that, “This update builds on the consistent pricing model already in place for services like Azure and reflects our ongoing commitment to greater transparency and alignment across all purchasing channels.”

The change applies to companies with enough employees to get them into price levels known as A, B, C and D. It goes into effect when organizations sign up for new services or renew existing agreements, beginning on Nov. 1.

“This action allows us to deliver more consistent and transparent pricing and better enable clear, informed decision making for customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in an email.

Jay Cuthrell, product chief at Microsoft partner NexusTek, said customers will see price hikes of 6% to 12%. Partners are estimating an impact as low as as 3% and as high as 14%, UBS analysts wrote.

Microsoft 365 commercial seat growth, a measurement of the number of licenses that clients buy for their workers, has been under 10% since 2023. Microsoft is aiming to generate more revenue per seat by selling Copilot add-ons and moving some users to more expensive plans.

Expanding that part of the business is crucial. Most of Microsoft’s $128.5 billion in fiscal 2025 operating profit came from the Productivity and Business Processes unit, and about 73% of the revenue in that segment was from Microsoft 365 commercial products and cloud services.

Some customers could agree to pay Microsoft more to keep using the applications rather than moving to alternative services, said Adam Mansfield, practice lead at advisory firm UpperEdge. They may also lower their commitments to Microsoft in other areas, such as Azure cloud infrastructure, Mansfield said.

One way companies could potentially pay lower prices with the disappearance of discounts is by buying through cloud resellers instead of going direct, said Nathan Taylor, a senior vice president at Sourcepass, an IT service provider that caters to small businesses.

Sourcepass hasn’t gotten many leads as a result of Microsoft’s change yet, Taylor said.

“It takes a while for that information to disseminate to the industry at large,” he said.

Microsoft shares are up 20% this year, while the Nasdaq has gained about 10%.

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Alibaba says smart car spinoff Banma plans to list shares in Hong Kong

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Alibaba says smart car spinoff Banma plans to list shares in Hong Kong

Alibaba’s global headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on May 9, 2024.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Alibaba-backed Banma, a provider of technology for smart cars, is planning to list shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to a filing.

In a filing dated Aug. 21, Alibaba said it currently owns about 45% of Banma and will continue to control over 30% of the company’s stock after the listing. Banma said in a filing that the announcement does not guarantee a listing will take place.

Banma, founded in 2015 and based in Shanghai, is “principally engaged in the development of smart cockpit solutions,” Alibaba’s filing says. In March, Alibaba announced that it was deepening its partnership with BMW in China, building an artificial intelligence engine for cars with a solution built by Banma, “Alibaba’s intelligent cockpit solution provider.”

In addition to Alibaba, Banma is backed by investors including China’s SAIC Motor, SDIC Investment Management and Yunfeng Capital, a Chinese investment firm started by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma.

Alibaba in the past referred to Banma as a joint venture “between us and SAIC Motor.”

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