Uber (UBER) Gains Analyst Confidence with AI-Powered Autonomous Vehicle Strategy

We recently published a list of Top 10 AI News Wall Street is Paying Attention To. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) stands against other top AI news Wall Street is paying attention to.

Heightened competition in the development of powerful artificial intelligence models is more than welcome. That’s the sentiment echoed by Ark Investment Management chief executive officer Cathie Wood in the aftermath of DeepSeek rattling the markets and tech world with a cost-effective AI model.

While there have been concerns that DeepSeek’s new open-source AI model challenges US dominance around the advanced technology, Wood insists it is a positive development. According to Woods, DeepSeek has only fostered the need for tech companies to focus on cutting costs and developing powerful AI models.

“We looked at DeepSeek’s model and learned that it is moving down the cost curve associated with this new technology at a rapid rate, but not much different from the rate at which OpenAI and Anthropic are riding down the cost curve,” Wood said.

According to Wood, the costs of developing AI models have been dropping, even before DeepSeek came calling with a cost effective model. Similarly, she joins a growing list of high-profile individuals who have questioned whether $6 million was the only cost that DeepSeek incurred in developing its models.

Wood also insists that now is not the time to regulate artificial intelligence as DeepSeek development has opened the door for competition on AI costs. The remarks come on the heels of the European Union establishing rules that will govern the use of AI, marking the first comprehensive legal framework in the world.

The EU AI Act prohibits using specific AI systems that pose unacceptable risks to citizens. Companies face fines of up to $35.8 million for any breach. While the AI act could affirm sentiments that Europe regulates the tech industry heavily to the detriment of innovation, Diyan Bogdanov, director of engineering intelligence at Payhawk, shares contrasting views.

“While the U.S. and China compete to build the biggest AI models, Europe is showing leadership in building the most trustworthy ones. The EU AI Act’s requirements around bias detection, regular risk assessments, and human oversight aren’t limiting innovation they’re defining what good looks like,” said Bogdanov.

Even as the European AI Act seeks to promote ethical standards, accountability, and trust, its extraterritorial implications are creating a stir across the Atlantic. Businesses, legislators, and policymakers in the United States are currently negotiating a rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) regulatory environment.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has already called for an investigation into European influence on US AI policymaking, a dramatic move that highlights rising tensions. Senator Cruz’s worries reflect a broader concern that unduly restrictive European standards may jeopardize the United States’ innovation-driven approach to technology.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q3 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Uber (UBER) Gains Analyst Confidence with AI-Powered Autonomous Vehicle Strategy

A close up view of a hand holding a smartphone, using a ride sharing app.

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 136

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) is a technology company that offers apps and products that match consumers looking for rides and independent providers of ride services. It also offers an application that helps people order and deliver food to their doorstep. The company has been using artificial intelligence to develop safe and reliable autonomous vehicles (AV) that can replace human drivers.

On February 18, Piper Sandler reiterated an Overweight rating on the stock and raised the price target to $87 from $80. The price hike follows a review of Uber Technologies autonomous vehicles on management, providing valuable data on capacity utilization and a solid outlook for the AV market. Early this year, Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) inked a strategic collaboration with Nvidia to enhance the development of new solutions that support the development of AI-powered autonomous driving technology. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi has also reiterated that generative AI will power the future of mobility thanks to rich data and powerful computing.

Overall, UBER ranks 1st on our list of top AI news Wall Street is paying attention to. While we acknowledge the potential of UBER as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UBER but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.