Uber Drivers Take on New Role: Training AI Models for Extra Cash

Your Uber driver has a new side hustle: Training AI for cash

Compensation depends on a task's time commitment and complexity. There's more to being employed by Uber than simply driving around passengers -- at least, that's what Uber says. Following the expansion of its courier service in 2020, Uber is now offering drivers the opportunity to help companies train their AI models for extra cash. According to Uber, beginning later this year, drivers and couriers who opt into the program can complete "digital tasks" within Uber's Driver app. These tasks can include submitting a video of themselves speaking in their native language, uploading pictures of specific everyday items, or presenting documents written in a different language. Also: This free Google AI course could transform how you research and write - but act fast After tasks are completed, the earnings will be in the users' balance within 24 hours. Compensation depends on the time commitment to complete tasks and their complexity. Uber says that over time, more digital tasks across a broader range of requests will be available, giving users the opportunity to earn more money without having to drive their car. Also: You're reading more AI-generated content than you think In a blog post, Uber says this program connects users to "companies that need real people to help improve their technology" -- as in AI companies that need real-life resources to train their models. Opportunities to complete digital tasks depend on the demand from the companies that need them, so it may not be a reliable source of income. Calling on everyday people to submit photos, videos, written documents, and voice clips could be a workaround for AI companies hoping to circumvent the copyright legal battle between themselves and publishers. Typically, AI companies scrape training data in the form of text, audio, video, images, and more off the open internet; as a result, record labels, social media companies, newspapers, independent artists, and movie studios have sued AI companies like OpenAI, Suno, and Anthropic, usually claiming copyright infringement. Also: Is art dead? What Sora 2 means for your rights, creativity, and legal risk Instead of training an AI image generator on professional, credited photos of bananas, perhaps the average person can help in exchange for a few extra dollars. It's a gig-economy spin on the existing method of training AI models, in which companies pay workers in the global south very low wages to tag and sort data for models to ingest. It's unclear how much of a cut Uber will take from participants in this program, and the privacy policy around the program is also unclear. Uber says that it will not disclose the names or business goals of AI companies to participants. You can assume that AI companies may sell, transfer, or retain any content received in the program.

Uber is turning its app into an AI training ground

In its quest to become the ultimate app for "flexible work," Uber launched today a new pilot to allow its US drivers and couriers to earn extra money by performing "microtasks" to train AI models. These tasks include audio voice recording, capturing and uploading images, and submitting documents in certain languages. The prompts will vary, but some examples include "upload images of cars" or "record yourself speaking in your language or local dialect." Another example is to upload a menu that's written in Spanish, which could earn someone as much as a whole dollar. The move could position Uber's global army of freelance drivers and delivery workers to challenge established players like Scale AI and Amazon's Mechanical Turks -- businesses and platforms that work with generative AI companies to help train their models by having humans annotate and label the data that feeds them. Most of that work is done through low-cost labor outside the US and is seen as critical in the development of powerful AI models. It's also one of many announcements that Uber is making today around the idea of building "the best platform for flexible work," as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi declared today at an event in Washington, DC. Most of the announcements center on how drivers and couriers interact with the app, aiming to make the experience of working for Uber easier, smarter, and fairer. In addition to digital microtasks, Uber is also redesigning its trip offer cards, introducing a new heatmap to direct drivers to high-demand areas, and expanding its features to give women drivers more control over their rides. Uber has used independent contractors to train AI models in the past, using what it calls "human-in-the-loop" processes that blend "human expertise with machine automation," according to the company's AI Solutions Group. The company recently bought Belgian startup Segments.ai to expand its nascent data-labeling business. Uber drivers in India were recently given the opportunity to earn small amounts of money responding to prompts in the Uber app for the first time. Now the company is bringing its digital tasks pilot to the US. It remains to be seen whether Uber drivers will take to these microtasks, given how many of them already complain of low pay as a result of the company's high take rate on rides and deliveries. Of course, Uber classifies drivers as independent contractors, arguing they are in business for themselves and thus ineligible for traditional benefits like overtime, minimum wage protections, and health insurance. Some Uber drivers argue that the company's algorithm exerts far too much control over their lives to be viewed as anything other than employment. In addition to digital microtasks, Uber is also changing the offer cards for drivers and couriers to give them more time and information before accepting the trip. Offer cards are what a driver sees before they accept (or reject) a trip request. Now Uber is giving them more time to make a decision when the card first appears in their app. Uber is also rolling out a new on-trip experience for couriers that "simplifies" multi-order deliveries with clearer pick-up and drop-off details, as well as alerts for commonly missed items. A new heatmap has been designed to give drivers more transparency about high-demand areas. Red areas indicate the shortest wait times, followed by orange, then yellow. Purple areas are where surge pricing is in effect, and it shows how long drivers waited on average for a trip based on recent data. And drivers who are commuting from their homes to a high-demand area, like an urban center, can now choose between a route that gets them there as fast as possible or one that maximizes fares along the way. Uber is also making some changes it says will make its app safer for both riders and drivers. After first launching its Women Rider Preferences feature in the US last July, the company is now making it available in more cities, including Baltimore, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, and Washington, DC. This feature allows women drivers to set their preferences so they only receive women riders, and vice versa. In markets where the feature is available, Uber says that women have used it on over 100 million trips. A quarter of women drivers turn it on every week, and more than half keep it on for more than 90 percent of their trips. Uber is now letting drivers set minimum ratings for riders based on their comfort levels, toggling the feature on or off depending on the situation -- for example, using it late at night and relaxing it during the day. Combined with consumer verification for riders, Uber says these tools help "give drivers more peace of mind on every trip." And lastly, Uber is rolling out several new updates related to fairness. Drivers have long complained of feeling helpless in the face of indiscriminate deactivations from the app and the laborious process to undo those decisions. Uber now says it hears those complaints and will strive to ease them -- but not totally eliminate the need for deactivation: We know that losing access to Uber can create real challenges, which is why we're working to make it easier for drivers and couriers to keep earning, even if issues arise. Where we can, we'll limit access to only specific types of earnings opportunities rather than the full platform. For example, if an alcohol delivery issue is reported, drivers can still take food or rideshare trips. As always, serious violations, including safety issues, may result in losing access to Uber altogether. If Uber receives a complaint from a rider about a driver, it says it will also allow the driver to tell their side of the story before making a decision. And if a rider files a false reports about a driver, that rider will risk deactivation. Uber is also rolling out a new Delayed Ride Guarantee, in which drivers can earn more if a trip is delayed due to a customer or for extenuating circumstances, like traffic or detours. It is also beefing up its tipping reminders for riders, expanding them to iPhone Live Activities, so riders receive more nudges about tipping their drivers or couriers.

Uber will soon offer drivers "AI chores" to earn a few more dollars between rides

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Editor's take: Human workers quietly underpin AI's apparent intelligence, performing low-paid labeling tasks that correct errors and refine outputs. As AI grows across industries, these micro-jobs are spreading rapidly, forming an invisible workforce that powers generative models and highlights the growing intersection of human labor and the expanding AI gig economy. Uber recently introduced a new way for US drivers to earn extra income, launching what is essentially an AI-oriented version of Amazon Mechanical Turk. The company's new Work Hub allows drivers to complete brief, low-effort tasks while waiting for their next passenger. These minute-long "jobs" include uploading documents, recording short audio clips, or labeling data for AI training. Uber says the new service gives drivers another way to earn money, functions offline while the car is parked, and requires no particular experience beyond using a smartphone. Uber Chief Product Officer Sachin Kansal told Bloomberg that Uber will add more tasks over time, with pay depending on the effort and time required to complete them. He emphasized that the new AI jobs do not replace work lost to autonomous vehicles, adding that Uber's recent partnerships with AV firms are purely coincidental. Before introducing it to select US drivers later this year, Uber is testing its new task-based program in India. Although the system could eventually expand to non-drivers, Kansal said the company's immediate priority is to engage drivers already using the Uber platform. Human input to correct AI errors is becoming an increasingly significant part of the gig economy, and Uber has steadily expanded its investments in this area. In 2024, the company began offering data-labeling opportunities to independent contractors, aiming to address the tendency of AI models to hallucinate, generate low-quality content, or fabricate information with algorithmic confidence. Meanwhile, critics lament the lack of regulation or safety measures for this growing workforce - known as "Turkers" in Amazon's parlance - tasked with making AI appear less error-prone than it actually is. Recent valuations of AI data-labeling startups such as Scale AI and Surge AI have reached $30 billion, suggesting that Uber and other gig economy companies will continue vying for a share of that market.

Uber is paying drivers extra to train its AI models. Here are 3 things you can do to earn more cash | Fortune

If the wait time for an Uber seems longer than usual, perhaps your driver is in a parking lot uploading a Spanish-language menu as part of the new "digital tasks" program the ride-share giant announced yesterday, which pays drivers to train its AI models. As part of a pilot program, US-based drivers who opt in will be able to earn extra money (the amount depends on the complexity) on their phones between trips by: Are drivers training their replacements? This new program is in support of Uber AI Solutions, which recently expanded its data-labeling business by purchasing Segments.ai, a Belgian startup that uses information gathered from cameras and sensors to enable autonomous driving. However, an Uber spokesperson said the data obtained from driver tasks will not be used to develop driverless vehicles. AI data race: This move could allow Uber to become a bigger AI player and compete with companies like Scale AI, which offers similar data-collection services and received a $14 billion investment from Meta in June. -- DL

Uber's newest gig work: Train AI to earn extra cash

The ride-hail app announced on Thursday a new pilot program that will offer gig workers the opportunity to train artificial intelligence (AI) through so-called "digital tasks." They include simple, quick tasks for workers such as uploading photos, recording themselves speaking in their native language, and submitting documents written in different languages -- which are then fed into AI models. Uber already offers this for gig workers in India. "A lot of these tasks are digital, meaning you can do them from your phone . . . from anywhere, and at the same time create earnings opportunities," Sachin Kansal, Uber's chief product officer, said at the company's "Only on Uber" event in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

Uber enters the AI training market using its global driver network

Participants can upload images, record audio, or verify data directly in the Uber app for small payments. The move positions Uber against AI data-labeling firms like Scale AI and Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Uber has initiated a pilot program in the United States that allows its drivers and couriers to perform microtasks to train artificial intelligence models, an effort aimed at establishing the company's freelance workforce as a competitor to existing AI data-training platforms. The new program was announced as part of a series of updates designed to create what Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi described as "the best platform for flexible work" during an event in Washington, D.C. The central component of this initiative is the introduction of paid digital tasks that drivers and couriers can complete through the Uber app. These microtasks are designed to generate, annotate, and verify data used to train and refine AI systems. The prompts presented to participants will vary, covering a range of data collection types. For instance, a driver might be asked to record audio clips of themselves speaking in their native language or a local dialect, which helps train voice recognition and natural language processing models. Other tasks could involve capturing and uploading images of specific objects, such as different types of cars, or submitting documents written in particular languages. One example provided by the company is a task to upload a photograph of a menu written in Spanish, a single submission that could earn the participant a payment of one dollar. This strategic move positions Uber's extensive global network of independent contractors as a direct challenge to established entities in the AI data services market, such as Scale AI and Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform. These businesses are foundational to the generative AI industry, providing the human-powered data labeling and annotation necessary to train large-scale models. The work typically involves humans reviewing, categorizing, and correcting the vast datasets that AI systems learn from. A significant portion of this labor is sourced from outside the U.S. at a lower cost, and it is widely considered a critical element in the advancement of sophisticated AI capabilities. By integrating these tasks into its existing driver and courier app, Uber is leveraging its workforce to enter this specialized market. Uber's involvement in using its independent contractors for AI-related work is not entirely new. The company's AI Solutions Group has previously detailed its use of "human-in-the-loop" processes. This methodology combines the cognitive abilities and expertise of human workers with the speed and scale of machine automation to improve AI model performance and accuracy. Further signaling its ambitions in this sector, Uber recently acquired Segments.ai, a Belgian startup specializing in data annotation tools, to bolster its growing data-labeling business. The microtask pilot itself is an expansion of a similar program that was previously made available to Uber drivers in India, who were given the opportunity to earn small additional amounts by responding to prompts within the app. The company is now extending this model to its U.S. workforce. The reception of these microtasks among U.S. drivers and couriers remains an open question. Many workers on the platform have expressed ongoing concerns regarding their earnings, citing what they describe as low pay resulting from the company's high commission, or take rate, on fares from rides and deliveries. Uber's business model is predicated on classifying its drivers and couriers as independent contractors, which means they are considered to be in business for themselves. This classification exempts the company from providing traditional employment benefits such as overtime pay, minimum wage guarantees, and contributions to health insurance. Conversely, some drivers contend that the level of control Uber exerts over their work through its algorithm -- dictating fares, routes, and performance standards -- is more characteristic of an employment relationship than an independent contractor arrangement. In addition to the AI training pilot, Uber announced several other updates focused on improving the daily experience for its drivers and couriers. One significant change is a redesign of the trip-offer cards that appear in the app. These cards display key information about a potential ride or delivery, which the worker must review before accepting or rejecting the request. The updated design provides drivers and couriers with more time to assess the details of an offer before making a decision. For couriers specifically, Uber is also launching a new on-trip interface designed to simplify the process of handling multi-order deliveries. This revamped experience provides clearer, more organized information for each pick-up and drop-off location and includes a new system of alerts intended to help prevent commonly missed items from an order being left behind. To provide drivers with better information about where to find work, Uber has introduced a new heatmap. This feature is designed to offer greater transparency regarding demand levels across different areas. The map uses a color-coded system to indicate wait times for trips. Red areas signify the shortest wait times, followed by orange and then yellow, which represent progressively longer waits. Purple areas on the heatmap indicate that surge pricing is currently in effect. The map also displays the average time drivers waited for a trip in a given area, based on recent historical data. A related feature allows drivers who are commuting from one location, such as their home, to a high-demand zone, like a city center, to choose their preferred type of route. They can opt for a route that gets them to their destination as quickly as possible or select an alternate route that is calculated to maximize their potential fares by directing them through areas with likely trip requests along the way. Uber also detailed changes aimed at enhancing safety on the platform. The company is expanding the availability of its Women Rider Preferences feature, which was first launched in the United States in July of the previous year. The feature is now being rolled out in additional cities, including Baltimore, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, and Washington, D.C. This tool allows drivers and riders who identify as women to set a preference to be matched only with other women. According to Uber, in the markets where this feature has been active, it has been used on over 100 million trips. The company also reported that a quarter of its women drivers activate the feature each week, and more than half of those who use it keep it enabled for over 90 percent of their driving time. Furthering its efforts to give drivers more control, Uber is introducing a feature that allows them to set a minimum rating for the riders they are willing to accept. Drivers can adjust this minimum rating based on their personal comfort level and can toggle the preference on or off as their situation changes. For example, a driver might choose to set a higher minimum rating for trips late at night and relax that requirement during daytime hours. Uber stated that this tool, when used in conjunction with its existing rider verification measures, helps "give drivers more peace of mind on every trip." Finally, Uber addressed long-standing driver complaints about platform deactivations with several updates related to fairness. Drivers have frequently reported feeling powerless when faced with what they perceive as indiscriminate deactivations and have described the appeals process as difficult and time-consuming. In response, Uber stated that it is implementing changes to mitigate these issues. The company provided a direct statement on the new policy: "We know that losing access to Uber can create real challenges, which is why we're working to make it easier for drivers and couriers to keep earning, even if issues arise. Where we can, we'll limit access to only specific types of earnings opportunities rather than the full platform. For example, if an alcohol delivery issue is reported, drivers can still take food or rideshare trips. As always, serious violations, including safety issues, may result in losing access to Uber altogether." Under the new system, if Uber receives a complaint about a driver from a rider, the platform will now provide the driver with an opportunity to present their side of the story before a final decision on their account status is made. To further promote fairness, Uber will also hold riders accountable for their reports; if a rider is found to have filed false reports against a driver, that rider may face deactivation from the platform. The company also introduced a Delayed Ride Guarantee, a feature through which drivers can earn additional compensation if a trip takes longer than expected due to customer delays or other extenuating circumstances such as heavy traffic or necessary detours. In a move to increase driver earnings, Uber is also enhancing its tipping reminders for customers by expanding them to iPhone Live Activities, creating more frequent and visible notifications that prompt riders and delivery recipients to tip their driver or courier.

Uber is diving into AI. And it wants drivers to help

Uber is giving some drivers in the U.S. the option to earn money by completing tasks related to the company's nascent data labeling business, an area where the ride-share giant sees an opportunity to shine in the artificial intelligence boom. A new job category called "digital tasks" will appear in the Uber driver app for some workers later this fall, offering existing registered drivers the opportunity to make a few bucks if they take on assignments that can be completed within minutes, according to the company. Those stints currently include uploading documents like restaurant menus, or recording audio samples of themselves narrating a scenario in various languages, said Chief Product Officer Sachin Kansal. More tasks will be added over time, he said, and the payout will vary based on the time commitment of each assignment. Uber is seeking to ride the wave of a growing appetite for bespoke data sets and labeling services that require human vetting to train AI models. Scale AI, which offers similar services, received more than $14 billion in investment from Meta Platforms Inc. earlier this year and is valued at more than $29 billion. The ride-share company's data services business, Uber AI Solutions, has been pitching its services to other enterprises, inviting them to outsource some AI development to independent contractors. Late last year, it launched a web-based platform to recruit talent in more than 20 countries for new types of gigs like coding and translation. Kansal said in an interview that the new digital tasks aren't meant as an answer to potential driver displacement from the increasing availability of autonomous vehicles, but as a way to keep attracting drivers to the app with more ways to earn. "It's an interesting coincidence that this has been the year of us launching a lot of AV partnerships," Uber AI Solutions and digital tasks for drivers, he said. "But if you look at the actual reality on the ground, we have hundreds of AVs. We have 8.5 (million) to 9 million drivers on the ground. So we are at a very, very, very early stage," he added. The company has been testing the new driver tasks in India before the U.S. launch, Kansal said. Uber may consider opening up such gigs to nondrivers over time, he added, though the current priority is to increase the earnings of drivers and couriers already on the platform. The digital gigs on the driver app are designed to be simple enough for drivers to complete on their phones while they're away from their cars, Uber said. Meanwhile, the assignments on its web-based platform have been more complex, such as annotation, translation and editing multilingual and multimodal content. Other updates to the driver app include expanding a feature allowing female drivers to set a preference for women riders. That option is now available in Baltimore, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Seattle, D.C. and Portland, Ore. The company is also rolling out nationwide a feature that lets drivers set a minimum passenger rating for prospective riders.

Uber Is Piloting a New Way for Drivers to Make Extra Cash -- Without Being in a Vehicle

The payout for each task varies depending on the time commitment. Uber is piloting a new feature for U.S. drivers and couriers to earn extra income -- even when they're not driving passengers or delivering food. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced the "Digital Tasks" pilot program at the Only on Uber 2025 conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The initiative offers U.S. drivers the chance to earn money by completing online tasks, such as uploading photos or recording audio clips to train AI models. "Drivers have asked for more ways to earn, even when they're not on the road," Khosrowshahi said at the event, per Business Insider. Related: Uber's CEO Says Drivers Will Be Replaced By Robotaxis in About 10 Years: 'This Is Going to Be a Real Issue' Access is currently limited during the pilot, but Uber plans to roll out the "Digital Tasks" feature to all drivers and couriers on both its main ride-hailing service and Uber Eats, though it is unclear when. Eligible U.S. drivers and couriers will see the option to participate in their Work Hub on Uber. Uber did not provide specifics on how much it would pay for the AI training, but the company's Chief Product Officer, Sachin Kansal, told Bloomberg that the payout for each task varies depending on the time commitment of each assignment. Uber may consider opening up the tasks to non-drivers over time, according to Kansal. Some tasks are simple enough to be completed directly on a phone, while more advanced assignments, such as annotating, translating, or editing content, are offered through Uber's web platform, Kansal said. It's unclear why Uber is training AI and if it has partnerships with any AI companies. Related: Fewer Gen Zers Are Getting Their Driver's Licenses. Here's What's Behind the Decline, According to Uber's CEO. Uber competitor Lyft does not have a public-facing AI training program like Uber's "Digital Tasks." However, Amazon offers a comparable option through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing platform launched publicly in 2005, where businesses can post small tasks, such as data entry, image labeling to train AI, or content moderation, that anyone can complete online for payment. This isn't Uber's first attempt to branch out beyond delivering food and offering rides. Two years ago, Uber launched a mini-pilot program that let app users hire people to complete various household tasks, like furniture assembly. Uber tested the service in select regions, including Fort Myers, Florida, and Edmonton, Alberta, but did not expand the program beyond an initial trial. Uber's push now to diversify the tasks drivers can complete arrives as robotaxis and autonomous vehicles gain ground. Last month, at an "All-In" podcast event, Khosrowshahi said that "10 to 15 years from now," work on Uber could dry up for human drivers as robotaxis take on more rides. In January, Khosrowshahi told the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern that driving for Uber is only a safe gig for the next decade. "You fast forward 15, 20 years, I think that the autonomous driver is going to be a better driver than the human driver," Khosrowshahi said at the time.

Uber Launches Program to Let Drivers Train A.I. Models In Their Downtime

The ride-hailing giant's new pilot program gives drivers paid opportunities to help train A.I. models. The life of an Uber driver often involves stretches of downtime -- waiting on ride requests or charging an electric vehicle's battery. To make the most of those idle moments, Uber is launching a pilot program that allows drivers and couriers to make extra money by completing digital tasks that train A.I. models for Uber's enterprise clients. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters "Drivers have asked for more ways to earn, even when they're not on the road," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. To address this request, drivers will soon be able to opt in for quick, in-app tasks ranging from uploading documents -- such as restaurant menus or receipts -- to providing everyday images and recording audio samples. The pilot will launch later this fall as part of Uber's AI Solutions Group, a division created last November to offer data-labeling services to other businesses. Its client list includes Aurora, a self-driving software developer; Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go; and Luma AI, a text-to-video generator. Until now, Uber AI Solutions has relied on independent gig workers to complete data-labeling tasks. The new program shifts those assignments to Uber's own network of drivers and couriers, giving them access to additional income streams directly through the Driver app. In addition to the upcoming U.S. launch, Uber has already been testing the initiative in more than 12 cities in India. "Until now, these tasks were completed by independent contractors outside the app," said Megha Yethadka, the global head of Uber AI Solutions, in a September LinkedIn post describing the Indian pilot as "very promising." Before accepting a task, drivers will be able to see the expected pay rate and estimated completion time. They can only take on digital tasks while not actively signed in to drive or deliver for Uber. While data-labeling is a relatively new area for Uber, it's long been a critical part of A.I. development. One of the largest players in the space is Scale AI, which was valued at $29 billion earlier this year following a $14 billion investment from Meta. Other players include Surge AI, which counts Anthropic and Microsoft amongst its clients, and in-house data-labelling initiatives run by model developers like xAI. Khosrowshahi first discussed Uber's plans to introduce digital tasks at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in June, where he laid out a strategy to expand income opportunities of drivers and couriers over the next five to ten years. He described the data-labeling effort as a form of "knowledge work" emerging from the A.I. era and a way to provide new job options even as automation and autonomous vehicles threaten traditional driving roles. Uber announced the digital tasks initiative yesterday (Oct. 16) during its annual Only on Uber event, which highlights new features inspired by driver and courier feedback. Other updates unveiled at the event included a new heat map tool showing demand hotspots, a rider rating filter that allows drivers to screen trip requests, and a delayed-ride guarantee offering extra pay when trips take longer than estimated. Uber also announced an expansion of its women rider preference feature, which lets female drivers accept rides only from women passengers -- a setting that has been used for more than 150 million trips and is activated weekly by one in four female drivers.

Uber Lets US Drivers Earn Extra Income with AI Data Labeling Tasks | PYMNTS.com

The program, launching later this fall, adds a "digital tasks" category to the Uber driver app. It allows registered drivers to complete short, smartphone-based assignments such as uploading restaurant menus or recording audio samples in multiple languages. Payments will vary by task and time commitment, Chief Product Officer Sachin Kansal told Bloomberg. Uber said the effort aims to give drivers additional ways to earn income when they are not on the road. Kansal added that the initiative is not a response to potential displacement from autonomous vehicles but part of the company's strategy to attract and retain drivers by expanding income opportunities. The move extends Uber's expansion into artificial intelligence services through its Uber AI Solutions division, which provides annotation, translation and AI model training services to enterprise clients. According to PYMNTS, the division recently expanded to 30 countries and introduced new tools for creating datasets that train multimodal and agent-based systems. Uber said the goal is to combine its software and global operational network to support organizations building scalable AI pipelines. Uber also strengthened its technical base with the acquisition of Segments.ai, a lidar and multi-sensor annotation startup focused on robotics, mapping and autonomous technology. PYMNTS reported that Segments.ai's team joined Uber AI Solutions to enhance its labeling capabilities and broaden its customer base for perception and sensor data services. The company said the acquisition supports its ambition to become a major provider of high-quality training data across multiple industries. The new app-based digital tasks are designed to be simpler and faster to complete than projects offered on Uber's existing web platform, which recruits global gig workers for complex annotation and translation jobs. Uber has been testing the feature in India and plans to expand it to U.S. drivers before potentially opening participation to non-drivers, Kansal said. The initiative reflects growing demand for human-verified datasets across the AI industry. Uber's latest move positions the company to leverage its global driver network not only for transportation but also for AI development and data infrastructure in an increasingly automation-driven economy.