Skyscanner vs Uber Eats

Gen Z wants to go offline on vacation

A survey by Skyscanner reveals that nearly one in four Germans plans to spend their next vacation largely offline, with the desire strongest among Generation Z (27%). The survey, conducted with 2,000 adults, also found that more than one-third of participants are hindered from disconnecting due to fear of missing important news. Skyscanner's analysis shows increasing searches for digital detox destinations like Nuuk, Asturias, and Bishkek, with Bishkek up 385% year-over-year. The trend reflects a broader desire to feel more connected with nature and family when offline, as well as a response to digital exhaustion. Skyscanner's travel expert Tobias Peine comments on the growing relevance for Gen Z.

• 27% of Gen Z respondents plan to go offline on their next vacation.
• More than one-third of survey participants are hindered by fear of missing news.
• Searches for Bishkek as a digital detox destination increased by 385% year-over-year.

Taiwan Blocks Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda Sale to Grab

Taiwan's competition authority has blocked Delivery Hero's planned sale of its Foodpanda Taiwan business to Grab. The $600 million cash deal, agreed in March 2026, was intended to help Delivery Hero reduce debt and strengthen its financial position. The authority cited concerns that Grab's close ties to Uber, which holds a 13% stake but only 3.9% voting rights, could weaken competition in Taiwan's food delivery market. Delivery Hero confirmed the decision and noted that regulatory approval was a condition for closing. The company may appeal, and a break-fee clause could provide compensation, but for now the funds are unavailable. Grab, which planned to use Taiwan as its first market outside Southeast Asia, must now consider other entry strategies. The decision underscores how regulators are scrutinizing indirect stakes and potential conflicts of interest in platform acquisitions.

• Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission blocked the sale of Foodpanda Taiwan to Grab on October 21, 2026.
• The $600 million all-cash deal was agreed in March 2026 and was pending regulatory approval.
• Uber holds a 13% stake in Grab but only 3.9% voting rights due to different share classes.

The reimagined Uber Eats Pro program: Coming soon to select cities in California

Uber announced the reimagined Uber Eats Pro program, coming soon to select cities in California.

Uber Reveals AI Developer Tools and Infrastructure

In a podcast episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, Uber Distinguished Engineer Uday Kiran Medisetty details Uber's internal developer tooling and AI infrastructure. Uber has built extensive in-house systems like DevPods, M3DB, Cadence, and Morpheus due to the lack of off-the-shelf solutions at their scale. The company has invested in a Model Gateway for AI model abstraction, AIFX for harness switching, and implements a hybrid AI spend model with cost tracking via CostCheck. They have also adapted code review processes with AI-assisted tools and risk scoring. Uber tags PRs by type (feature, bugfix, maintenance, testing, docs) to better measure productivity, as traditional PR velocity is less relevant with AI agents. The episode highlights a 'code red' for CI due to doubled jobs, leading to shifts of simple tasks to the 'inner loop'. Uber's AI tooling builds on a decade of dev tooling investments, enabling quick AI agent integration.

• Uber's service count stayed stable from 2019 to 2026 despite 10x business growth.
• Uber built M3DB, an open-sourced metrics database now commercialized by Chronosphere.
• Uber developed Cadence, a workflow engine later open-sourced and used by Temporal.