Ride-share group BlaBlaCar taps AI for 20-country expansion / Photo: Arun SANKAR - AFP
-
Inflation slows in top eurozone economies as ECB ponders next move
-
Record number of 'new millionaires' in 2025, says UBS
-
Starmer boosts budget to modernise UK military before exit
-
UN calls for food, shelter to help Venezuela quake survivors
-
Stocks mostly higher, yen stays near 40-year low against dollar
-
Merz faces mockery over praise of Germany's World Cup team
-
Data centres emitting more CO2 than thought: study
-
Ride-share group BlaBlaCar taps AI for 20-country expansion
-
Over 1 million migrants apply for Spain's mass regularisation
-
Escaping heat, forgetting war: Kyiv locals hit the beach
-
Germany questions footballing identity after fresh World Cup failure
-
Thousands march to demand illegal migrants leave South Africa
-
MEXC Lists Ondo's Tokenized Strategy Preferred Stock on Spot Market
-
Serena set for remarkable Wimbledon return
-
Stocks climb, yen stays near 40-year low against dollar
-
Outgoing UK PM Starmer announces 'record' defence spending
-
Swim star Marchand limps out of French nationals as Europeans loom
-
Paralluelo joins Barca women's departures
-
UN says transport infrastructure must adapt to climate
-
Police hunt for Monaco bomb suspect after Ukrainian-born businessman wounded
-
Sommer, Acerbi, Darmian, De Vrij leave Inter Milan
-
Sommer, Acerbi, Darmian leave Inter Milan
-
Germany's labour market dilemma: rising unemployment despite vacancies
-
'Waiting like torture': Turks despair as Schengen visa delays mount
-
Skating allows Russian, Belarussians to return as neutrals
-
Venezuela rescuers in final push to find survivors as families mourn
-
Russian double Olympic figure skating champion Dmitriev dies aged 58
-
Over 1 million migrants apply for Spain's mass regularisation: PM
-
S. Africa deploys police as anti-migrant protests loom
-
Thousands from Philippine sect protest pro-Duterte senator's graft case
-
Monaco parcel bomb blast wounds Ukrainian oligarch
-
South Africa repatriations top 25,000 ahead of anti-immigrant ultimatum
-
Sweden face France's attacking firepower at the World Cup
-
Taiwan raids tech firms in China AI chip smuggling probe
-
Online same-sex romance series embrace AI 'freedom'
-
Morocco 'unstoppable' says coach after Netherlands thriller
-
New Oxford academic centre symbolises UK's big-donor era
-
Russia's small businesses pay the price of spiralling Ukraine war
-
Trump says Iran meeting set in Qatar, despite uncertainty
-
Paraguay shock Germany as Brazil, Morocco advance at World Cup
-
Morocco down Netherlands to reach World Cup last 16
-
NASA robot mission aiming to rescue space telescope
-
Asian stocks unable to track Wall St higher, yen holds at 40-year low
-
Mouse-that-roared Paraguay savors World Cup win over Germany
-
'We came from nothing': DR Congo dreams of England World Cup upset
-
Taiwan's ageing seaweed harvesters hope younger women wade in
-
Peruvian political heir Fujimori wins presidency
-
Key Venezuela port opens with US aid, as burials begin
-
What to expect as EU small parcel levy kicks in
-
Ambitious Japan search for answers after World Cup exit
NYSE - LSE
Ride-share group BlaBlaCar taps AI for 20-country expansion
French ride-sharing and travel site BlaBlaCar said Tuesday that it would push into 20 new countries -- double the current number -- thanks to the scaling opportunities provided by AI.
The company said demand for ride sharing has soared with the surge in fuel prices amid the Mideast war, with 800,000 new drivers joining its platform between March and June.
"The growth we have observed over recent months demonstrates that drivers find the cost-sharing model more relevant than ever," chief executive Nicolas Brusson said in a statement.
From its base in Paris, BlaBlaCar was able to harness artificial intelligence to analyse local market data, translate and illustrate its app, and launch targeted advertising without deploying anyone on the ground, a company official told AFP.
The entire process took "a few months" and "significantly less" investment compared to a 10-year rollout across its first 20 countries since being founded in 2006, the official added.
It will now offering carpooling services across countries in four regions: Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Balkans in Europe, and beginning in North Africa with Morocco.
D.Sawyer--AMWN
