Uber lobbied, used ‘stealth’ tech to block scrutiny, report says

Uber lobbied, used ‘stealth’ tech to block scrutiny, report says


A driver uses the Uber app to drop off a passenger.

Chris J. Ratcliffe | Bloomberg via Getty Images

As Uber aggressively pushed into markets around the world, the ride-sharing service lobbied political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws, used a “kill switch″ to thwart regulators and law enforcement, channeled money through Bermuda and other tax havens and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, according to a report released Sunday.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit network of investigative reporters, scoured internal Uber texts, emails, invoices and other documents to deliver what it called “an unprecedented look into the ways Uber defied taxi laws and upended workers’ rights.″

The documents were first leaked to the British newspaper The Guardian, which shared them with the consortium.

In a written statement, Uber spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker acknowledged “mistakes″ in the past and said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, hired in 2017, had been “tasked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates. … When we say Uber is a different company today, we mean it literally: 90% of current Uber employees joined after Dara became CEO.″

Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., speaks on a webcast during the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Friday, May 10, 2019.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Founded in 2009, Uber sought to skirt taxi regulations and offer inexpensive transportation via a ride-sharing app. The consortium’s Uber Files revealed the extraordinary lengths that the company undertook to establish itself in nearly 30 countries.

The company’s lobbyists — including former aides to President Barack Obama — pressed government officials to drop their investigations, rewrite labor and taxi laws and relax background checks on drivers, the papers show.

The investigation found that Uber used “stealth technology″ to fend off government investigations. The company, for example, used a “kill switch″ that cut access to Uber servers and blocked authorities from grabbing evidence during raids in at least six countries. During a police raid in Amsterdam, the Uber Files reported, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick personally issued an order: “Please hit the kill switch ASAP … Access must be shut down in AMS (Amsterdam).″

The consortium also reported that Kalanick saw the threat of violence against Uber drivers in France by aggrieved taxi drivers as a way to gain public support. “Violence guarantee(s) success,″ Kalanick texted colleagues.

In a response to the consortium, Kalanick spokesman Devon Spurgeon said the former CEO “never suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety.″

The Uber Files say the company cut its tax bill by millions of dollars by sending profits through Bermuda and other tax havens, then “sought to deflect attention from its tax liabilities by helping authorities collect taxes from its drivers.″



Source

Intel spins out AI robotics company RealSense with  million raise
Technology

Intel spins out AI robotics company RealSense with $50 million raise

Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., right, shows the collision avoidance feature of an AscTec Firefly drone with Intel RealSense cameras during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images Intel is spinning out its artificial intelligence robotics and biometric venture as more […]

Read More
China’s ‘instant commerce’ price war sees alt=
Technology

China’s ‘instant commerce’ price war sees $0.30 drinks and billions in subsidies doled out

A Meituan food delivery courier rides an electric scooter in Chongqing, China, on March 29, 2025. Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images In China’s fiercely competitive market, the latest price war is playing out in the growing “instant commerce” sector, where companies are launching massive subsidies and other incentives to get consumers […]

Read More
Grok 4 appears to seek Elon Musk’s views when answering controversial questions
Technology

Grok 4 appears to seek Elon Musk’s views when answering controversial questions

The X logo on a phone. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images When xAI’s Grok 4 chatbot was launched on Wednesday, users and media outlets quickly began pointing out examples of it consulting its owner Elon Musk’s views on controversial matters.  CNBC was able to confirm that when asked to take a stance on some […]

Read More