Uber drivers launch European class action over ‘soulless’ and ‘scary’ AI algorithm

Landmark lawsuit claims tech company’s pay-setting system has breached privacy laws and pushed down earnings

Drivers say the algorithm has offered the same job to different people at different pay rates and offers them less for a return journey after a long trip because it calculates they will not want to come home empty. File picture: Laura Dale/PA

Uber drivers have launched a landmark legal action against the ride-hailing company claiming they live in “constant fear” of a “soulless” algorithm it uses to set pay and allocate jobs.

Drivers from across Europe have joined the compensation claim that could run into billions of euros. It alleges an AI-powered pay-setting system breaches data protection laws and pushes down their earnings.

The claim has been filed at Amsterdam’s district court, where the $150bn (€130bn) San Francisco tech company has its European HQ. It is the first collective legal move of its kind, according to the European Trade Union Confederation.

The case centres on an opaque “black box” algorithm fed on information about drivers, which sets a personalised rate for each ride. Drivers fear it pushes down fares to the minimum they are willing to accept.

Drivers say the algorithm has offered the same job to different people at different pay rates and offers them less for a return journey after a long trip because it calculates they will not want to come home empty.

“It is like someone watching you all the time and knowing about your weakness — the boss is the algorithm,” said Mohammed Shirwa, a 41-year-old Uber driver in Rotterdam. “All the time the algorithm is learning about you and what you are willing to accept. 

So the prices go low but you are stuck. It knows you need the job.

The Dutch data protection authority fined ⁠Uber €825m last month for deactivating driver ⁠accounts through automated systems without ​adequate notice. Uber said it would appeal. The company is also planning to roll out driverless cars in European cities from London to Zagreb, initially with human supervisions.

The legal case is being led by the Worker Info Exchange, a campaign group whose founder, James Farrar, secured a UK supreme court ruling that Uber drivers should have worker rights.

Relating to about 241,000 drivers across the EU and the UK, the claim alleges that Uber has unlawfully used automated decision-making, including profiling, in dynamically setting pay and allocating work.

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The lawsuit, which also claims the company unlawfully used driver data to train its AI models, is seeking damages for affected drivers and an injunction to halt the conduct which it claims breaches GDPR data regulations.

Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in 2023: “I think that what we can do better is targeting of different trips to different drivers based on their preferences or based on behavioural patterns that they’re showing us.”

Uber said it did not adjust the price offered for a trip based on an individual driver’s behaviour and that a history of accepting or rejecting trips was not used to personalise pay offers. Instead, it said, dynamic pricing allowed it to increase pay on less attractive trips, boosting a driver’s earning potential.

“While we haven’t seen the claim yet, we categorically reject the allegations,” an Uber spokesperson said. “The Uber app uses real-time information about the trip such as journey, duration and destination to calculate fares.

“Drivers see their earnings and where a trip is going before they decide whether to accept it. The vast majority of total fares continue to go where they belong: into drivers’ pockets, and the percentage that Uber keeps from fares has remained relatively flat.” 

The Guardian