Tag: on-demand

Uber scales on AWS to help power millions of daily trips and to train its AI models

Uber, the world’s largest ride-sharing and on-demand delivery company, is expanding its infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Uber is using AWS Graviton instances to support more of its Trip Serving Zones, the real-time infrastructure behind every ride and delivery, and has started pilot training some AI models on Trainium—enabling faster rider and delivery matching, global demand handling, and smarter, more personalized experiences for millions of daily users.

Every time you open Uber and request a ride or delivery, a series of split-second decisions happens behind the scenes. Which driver is closest? What’s the fastest route? How long will it actually take? Getting those answers right instantly—for millions of people at once—requires the right infrastructure for Uber to deliver these capabilities at scale during rush hour and major events.

How Graviton helps power millions of trips in real time

Uber’s Trip Serving Zones are part of the system that makes sure every ride and delivery runs smoothly, which requires making millions of predictions and processing location data in milliseconds.

Now, Uber is expanding its use of AWS compute, storage, and networking to help power real-time operations for Trip Serving Zones. By running more of these workloads on AWS Graviton, Uber can reduce energy consumption while scaling rapidly during demand spikes, both reducing latency and optimizing costs. Graviton’s high performance enables some of the real-time calculations that help match riders with drivers faster—without compromising reliability, availability, or security.

“Uber operates at a scale where milliseconds matter,” said Kamran Zargahi, vice president of engineering at Uber. “Moving more Trip Serving workloads to AWS gives us the flexibility to match riders and drivers faster and handle delivery demand spikes without disruption.”

Improving Uber rides at scale with AWS Trainium chips

Uber has also begun experimenting with AWS Trainium to train some of the AI models that help power its apps. These models analyze data from billions of rides and deliveries to determine which driver or courier to send, calculate arrival times, and recommend the best delivery options to the customer. Training AI at this scale requires enormous computing power—Trainium provides an efficient, cost-effective way to do it. As the models learn from more trips, Uber delivers faster matches, more accurate arrival time estimates, and more personalized recommendations to customers worldwide so they can get where they are going faster and receive their deliveries sooner.

“By starting to pilot some of our AI models on Trainium, we’re building a technology foundation that will make every Uber experience smarter—so we can keep our focus where it belongs: on the people who use Uber every day,” Zargahi said.

“Uber is one of the most demanding real-time applications in the world, and we’re proud to be an important part of the infrastructure powering their global operations,” said Rich Geraffo, vice president and managing director of North America at AWS. “We’re helping Uber deliver the reliability hundreds of millions of people count on today—and the AI-powered experiences that will define ride-sharing and on-demand delivery tomorrow.”

Learn more about how AWS Graviton and Trainium are helping companies build faster, more efficient AI applications.

NBI and GAA+ partner to reward broadband customers with streamed championship games

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company delivering the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan (NBP) on behalf of the Government, has announced an exciting new partnership with GAA+, the GAA’s live and on-demand streaming platform.

GAA+ is offering a schedule of c.40 exclusive games for the Championship 2026 season and those new customers ordering a broadband service on the NBI network before 31st March can receive an annual subscription pass valued at €95.

By combining next‑generation broadband infrastructure with modern sports broadcasting, the reward highlights how digital connectivity can bring local sporting moments to audiences right across rural Ireland and the GAA heartland.

Jarlath Burns, GAA President, expressed his excitement at the launch of this partnership: “The GAA is rooted in every community in Ireland, regardless of its urban or rural setting. Making GAA+ as accessible and enjoyable as possible remains a consistent aim and this new partnership with National Broadband Ireland clearly speaks to that ambition.”

“Our platform will once again provide a comprehensive live and exclusive broadcast schedule to supporters across web, connected TVs and apps throughout the Championship from Saturday, April 11th. Working closely with National Broadband Ireland will ensure thousands of our members can avail of enhanced connectivity in their area and look forward to coverage from Provincial Championship and All-Ireland series stages on any connected device in the comfort of their own home.”

The partnership forms part of NBI’s wider efforts to enhance end user experience and highlight the everyday benefits that high‑speed broadband can bring to households and communities.

Speaking of the announcement T.J. Malone, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland: “We are very proud to announce our partnership with GAA+ considering that both organisations have such a strong focus on community. NBI’s rollout of high‑speed broadband infrastructure into rural areas is creating new opportunities for families, clubs and supporters to stay connected – whether that is working, learning or watching their county team compete.”

“We see our partnership with GAA+ as a great way to support broadband take-up by giving new customers that order before the end of March, access to 40 exclusive streamed games.” Mr. Malone concluded: “We also believe watching the GAA+ games over the NBI network will enhance the streaming experience.”

More than 451,000 premises across Ireland can now order fibre broadband on the NBI network, with over 165,000 already having done so.

The Founder Factory Unveils New Brand ‘Factory44’, Delivering On-Demand Creative Services for Every Business Stage

The Founder Factory, Ireland’s on-demand creative studio, has announced its strategic rebrand to Factory44, with a renewed mission to provide compelling and impactful content solutions for businesses at every stage of development.

The transition to Factory44 signals the company’s evolution from a niche service provider initially geared towards startups and founders, to a dynamic, membership-based hub of creative solutions catering to the diverse and time-sensitive content needs of businesses. From ideation to execution, Factory44’s dedicated team of experienced content creators, designers, and strategists are on-hand to deliver content that engages, educates, and inspires audiences, powered by a state-of-the-art studio and equipment suite.

Since inception, Factory44 has exclusively served clients from the founder and start-up community, with an affordable membership price tier of €4,500 per year. This membership package grants members unlimited, on-demand access to Factory44’s dynamic studio, expert team and a full-scope of content creation services including podcasting, videography and photography. It also includes invites to exclusive member-only events, featuring Factory44’s growing network of members, creatives, founders and marketers. Factory44 has also introduced separate price tiers for SMEs and large enterprises with more comprehensive content needs, with add-on packages including copywriting, video editing, strategic digital consultancy, graphic and web design, as well as social media management.

Under the stewardship of serial entrepreneurs Bernard Nolan and Robbie Phelan, Factory44 has experienced an accelerated growth trajectory, expanding from an original staff of two at the beginning of 2023 to eight full-time staff members currently, with two new hires earmarked for Q4 of this year. Having closed a €250,000 pre-seed investment round earlier this year, the funding is being allocated towards business expansion and recruitment, with a particular emphasis on scaling the company’s multi-faceted content department and launching new content ‘factory’ locations in the coming 24 months.

Bernard Nolan (CEO and Co-Founder) has held senior management positions in globally renowned tech companies along with founding multiple startups in fields such as MedTech and AI recruitment. Bernard has won multiple startup awards, including Ireland’s Best Healthcare Start-up in 2017 at the National Start-Up Awards, having founded an online medical platform empowering users to access, store, manage and communicate medical information anytime, anywhere. He was also a regional finalist in Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition by Local Enterprise Office / Enterprise Ireland in 2018. His Factory44 Co-founder Robbie Phelan is a seasoned sales and operations senior manager, who previously Co-founded a HR technology company that delivers an AI-powered talent experience platform, enabling a faster, fairer and friendlier hiring experience for candidates and employers alike. Together, Bernard and Robbie are now laser focused on disrupting Ireland’s content creation scene.

Commenting on the announcement, Bernard Nolan, Co-Founder and CEO of Factory44 said: “Our ongoing and rapid expansion demonstrates the high market demand for affordable, membership-based content creation services. In today’s hyper-competitive economy, businesses at every stage of development need on-demand access to dedicated content experts, without paying lofty fees. Whether you’re a startup looking to establish a strong digital presence, a founder seeking to expand your sphere of influence and personal brand, or an established enterprise aiming to refresh your brand narrative, Factory44 has the expertise to craft best-in-class content that aligns with and supports your business objectives.”

Robbie Phelan, Co-Founder of Factory44 said: “By only paying for what they need, our expanding client base derives fantastic value from our dedicated in-house experts, who are treated like an extension of their team – reliable, dedicated and invested in their success. With a three-story state of the art facility centrally located in the heart of Dublin, we’re building a thriving network of enterprises that can explore collaboration synergies, while achieving the highest standards of content output in an affordable and efficient manner.”