Uber and Lyft drivers have formed the first rideshare union. Reuters reported:
The newly formed App Drivers Union received certification, opens new tab from the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations on Friday to represent nearly 70,000 ride-share drivers operating as independent contractors in the state.
That vote followed a years-long, nationwide battle over whether ride-share drivers should be considered independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits and wage protections.
Drivers for Uber and Lyft do not have the right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act, a federal law that covers only traditional employees.
But under the state law, drivers could form a union after collecting signatures from at least 25% of active drivers in Massachusetts — a condition that was met by union supporters. The union is backed by 32BJ SEIU, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
“The workers who built these billion-dollar corporations deserve a union contract and a seat at the table,” IAM President Brian Bryant said at Tuesday's rally.
Uber is burning through tokens. Business Insider reported:
In a Rapid Response interview released on Saturday, Uber's operations chief, Andrew Macdonald, said it was becoming harder to justify AI costs within the company.
He said that Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga went viral after telling The Information in an April interview that Uber had already blown through its Claude Code budget for 2026.
He said that, based on talks with Uber's senior engineering leaders, he realized higher token usage did not translate into a proportional increase in useful consumer features.
He said that the trade-off costs from AI are harder to justify because he can't draw a direct link. Earlier this month, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an earnings call that Uber was slowing hiring to counter its investments in AI.
A Waymo ride ended early and promotes Uber. Business Insider reported:
That is roughly how far Schwartz said he was from his hotel in downtown San Francisco when the Waymo taxi he and his wife were riding in suddenly stopped and refused to move. The couple visited the city earlier this month.
As Schwartz tried to figure out what was going on in a conversation with Waymo support, the employee on the phone said that there was a “huge blockage” preventing the car from reaching his hotel. Then, the employee told Schwartz: “You can request another ride, probably Uber or Lyft,” according to a video Schwartz posted on LinkedIn.
A Waymo spokesperson said that the car was halted because of a “restriction placed after our operations team learned of planned protest activity.” The spokesperson did not respond when asked what protest was taking place.
Waymo suggests other transportation options when cars cannot reach a passenger's destination, the company said.
“We're looking into this further to see how we could have better served the rider in this case, in addition to providing a refund,” the spokesperson said.
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