Author | Lightnews

Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Aug 6

What does the data say? www.nelp.org/insights-res...

Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Aug 6

$20 billion in stock buybacks funded mainly by slashing driver wages--who are already making below the minimum wage across the US. Shareholder capitalism at work www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Uber Boosts Buybacks by $20 Billion After Upbeat Forecast

Uber Technologies Inc.’s upbeat forecast and better-than-expected quarterly gross bookings failed to boost the rideshare and food-delivery company Wednesday, with shares handing back some of their imp...

www.bloomberg.com

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Aug 6

Surveillance pricing is here. Airlines like Delta are following the Uber playbook: using AI to set individualized prices, maximizing the value they can extract from each consumer based on personal data they collect.

American Economic Liberties Project @econliberties.bsky.social · Aug 5

“Exploitation phase.”

That’s what the company behind Delta’s new AI pricing tool calls the part where it figures out exactly how much it can squeeze out of every consumer.

Surveillance pricing is here — and it’s being praised as the “The Holy Grail” for pricing schemes.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jul 15

Here’s what I had to say about the bills at the city council back in December:

s27147.pcdn.co/app/uploads/...

Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jul 15

It builds on the success of the food delivery worker minimum pay standard, which increased wages to $19.78 an hour—while NYC’s app delivery industry continues to thrive.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jul 15

The landmark package of bills passed by the City Council would ensure better pay transparency, safeguard worker tips, and extend the city’s nation-leading minimum pay rate to include grocery and package delivery workers for companies like Instacart and Amazon Flex.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jul 15

Proud to stand alongside my friends at Los Deliveristas Unidos yesterday to celebrate another major victory for New York City’s delivery workers.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

Excellent work @jmlstein.bsky.social @rdbinns.bsky.social

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

6/ In sum, Uber is using its AI algorithms to squeeze more value out of workers, while drivers are earning less and their working conditions are worse.

It's one example of the "enshittification" of work from AI and surveillance capitalism--and it's a story that won't stop with Uber.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

5/ Working conditions are also worse. Drivers now spend more time waiting for trips than carrying passengers, and pay is much less predictable. This forces them to organize their lives around an algorithm without knowing what they'll earn.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

4/ Uber is also capturing much more "surplus value" (the revenue generated per on-trip driver hour minus labor cost) with dynamic pricing, mostly by taking a higher percentage of high-value fares, a phenomenon obscured by the overall average take rate.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

3/ Meanwhile, Uber’s median take rate in the UK increased from 25% to 29%. On some individual trips, Uber pocketed more than 50% of the fare, with higher take rates concentrated on more valuable trips.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

UK Uber drivers’ earnings cut after changes to secretive algorithm

Introduction of ‘dynamic pricing’ also coincided with company raising trip prices, researchers finds

www.theguardian.com

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

2/ The data show a significant drop in driver pay after dynamic pricing was introduced. Average hourly pay fell from £22.20 to £19.06--before factoring in driver expenses. For a subset of 114 consistent drivers, 93 of them now earn less per hour.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

1/ Another study about algorithmic wage-setting!! This one from Oxford and @workerinfox.bsky.social, analyzing 1.5 million Uber trips in the UK, shows how dynamic pricing has made the experience of driving for Uber much worse.
arxiv.org/abs/2506.15278

Not Even Nice Work If You Can Get It; A Longitudinal Study of Uber's Algorithmic Pay and Pricing

Ride-sharing platforms like Uber market themselves as enabling `flexibility' for their workforce, meaning that drivers are expected to anticipate when and where the algorithm will allocate them jobs, ...

arxiv.org

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Reposted by Dan Ocampo

Reuben Binns @rdbinns.bsky.social · Jun 19

New paper out today, accepted at #FAccT2025, led by Jake Stein and me: "Not Even Nice Work If You Can Get It; A Longitudinal Study of Uber's Algorithmic Pay and Pricing" arxiv.org/abs/2506.15278

Over the last 3 years, we've been working with @workerinfox.bsky.social to audit Uber's algorithms. 1/

Not Even Nice Work If You Can Get It; A Longitudinal Study of Uber's Algorithmic Pay and Pricing

Ride-sharing platforms like Uber market themselves as enabling `flexibility' for their workforce, meaning that drivers are expected to anticipate when and where the algorithm will allocate them jobs, ...

arxiv.org

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Reposted by Dan Ocampo

Worker Info Exchange @workerinfox.bsky.social · Jun 19

New - Oxford University research in partnership with @Workerinfox exposes deepening exploitation of Uber drivers by algorithmic pay
www.workerinfoexchange.org/post/new-res...

New Research Exposes Deepening Exploitation of Uber Drivers by Algorithmic Pay

www.workerinfoexchange.org

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

Excellent work @jmlstein.bsky.social @rdbinns.bsky.social

Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

6/ In sum, Uber is using its AI algorithms to squeeze more value out of workers, while drivers are earning less and their working conditions are worse.

It's one example of the "enshittification" of work from AI and surveillance capitalism--and it's a story that won't stop with Uber.

1

Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

5/ Working conditions are also worse. Drivers now spend more time waiting for trips than carrying passengers, and pay is much less predictable. This forces them to organize their lives around an algorithm without knowing what they'll earn.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

4/ Uber is also capturing much more "surplus value" (the revenue generated per on-trip driver hour minus labor cost) with dynamic pricing, mostly by taking a higher percentage of high-value fares, a phenomenon obscured by the overall average take rate.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

3/ Meanwhile, Uber’s median take rate in the UK increased from 25% to 29%. On some individual trips, Uber pocketed more than 50% of the fare, with higher take rates concentrated on more valuable trips.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

2/ The data show a significant drop in driver pay after dynamic pricing was introduced. Average hourly pay fell from £22.20 to £19.06--before factoring in driver expenses. For a subset of 114 consistent drivers, 93 of them now earn less per hour.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

That's why @nelp.org is making the case for greater transparency--so drivers know what they'll earn, and researchers & policymakers can better understand this industry.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

6/ To protect this model, Uber has aggressively opposed transparency, suing Colorado over disclosure requirements and now refusing to share its take rate figure with shareholders.

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Dan Ocampo @danocampo.bsky.social · Jun 26

5/ Drivers once had a per-mile and per-minute wage floor; now they earn as little as the algorithm deems possible.

And Uber does the same on the other side of the ledger, repeatedly probing customers to figure out the highest price they’re willing to pay on every trip. www.nelp.org/ubers-price-...

Uber’s Price-Gouging and What We Can Do About It - National Employment Law Project

Uber has reached record profitability by gouging both consumers and drivers.

www.nelp.org

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