public company

Uber

A public ride-hailing and delivery platform that sells transport coordination while relying on contractor labor, driver-extraction claims, and regulatory arbitrage. Uber remains weak because of documented human harm, identity capture, and ideological disavowal, even where the product or service has practical value.

Why this matters: Platform convenience can depend on shifting business risk onto workers.

Letter grade F Malignant High confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1 Last reviewed May 6, 2026

Final Score -1* F - Malignant

FMALIGNANT-1 pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material21

Bonus+0

Cap35Ownership <= 2 and Governance <= 2

After Cap21

Penalties-22

Private Government badge

Uber receives the Private Government badge because it combines large-scale private rule-setting over customers, workers, users, members, or counterparties with OpenLobby-documented lobbying of about $770K on public policy issues.

Evidence: [17]

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Evaluation Overview

F - Malignant

The score turns mainly on Extraction, with the largest penalty coming from Policy Capture.

Strengths

Extraction4/10
Market Conduct3/5
Product Integrity3/5

Penalties

Policy Capture-5
High-Carbon Products-5
Unilateral Terms-4
Human Harm-3

Evidence state

ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessPartial (AI)
Linked claims17
Direct axis claims16
Coverage16/16

Scoring Axes

Axis	Score	Why this score
Ownership ? Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.	2 / 10	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 78 scored entries below, 21 tied, 127 above on Ownership. Linked evidence Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1]
Governance ? Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.	2 / 10	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 71 scored entries below, 22 tied, 133 above on Governance. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] Uber's Form 10-K describes a platform model serving drivers, merchants, consumers, and other participants while corporate management controls the marketplace rules; affected drivers and riders use the system without democratic rule-setting power. [3]
Extraction ? Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.	4 / 10	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. That places Uber in the middle of Extraction: the institution creates real value but still leaves room for rent extraction, unequal bargaining, or surplus capture. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 62 scored entries below, 32 tied, 132 above on Extraction. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] Uber reports that substantially all revenue comes from fees paid by drivers and merchants for platform use, making platform take-rate extraction from dependent counterparties central to the business model. [4]
Labor Sovereignty ? Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.	2 / 7	Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. That keeps Uber low on Labor Sovereignty: labor remains managerially controlled, replaceable, or exposed to coercive employment and contracting conditions. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 8 scored entries below, 36 tied, 182 above on Labor Sovereignty. Linked evidence Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2]
Solidarity with the Unemployed ? Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.	2 / 7	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 31 scored entries below, 49 tied, 146 above on Solidarity with the Unemployed. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] Uber warns that being required to classify drivers as employees would materially affect its model, which shows that current labor access is organized around contractor status rather than durable employment protection for people who lose access to the platform. [5]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity ? Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.	1 / 7	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. That keeps Uber low on Loss-Bearing Fidelity: losses, hazards, or adjustment costs are routinely pushed onto workers, customers, suppliers, communities, or the public. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 12 scored entries below, 20 tied, 194 above on Loss-Bearing Fidelity. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] The FTC earnings and vehicle-financing settlement is loss-bearing evidence because alleged recruitment misrepresentations shifted income and vehicle-financing risk onto prospective drivers while Uber preserved platform growth. [6]
Market Conduct ? Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.	3 / 5	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. That places Uber in the middle of Market Conduct: the product has real value but still uses meaningful lock-in, gatekeeping, market power, or dependency. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 54 scored entries below, 51 tied, 121 above on Market Conduct. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] Uber's annual report describes a large marketplace connecting riders, drivers, merchants, shippers, and consumers; the service is useful but organized through platform dependency and corporate rule control. [7]
Product Integrity ? Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.	3 / 5	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. That places Uber in the middle of Product Integrity: the product has real use value but is compromised by incentives, monetization, lock-in, quality degradation, or risk. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 37 scored entries below, 23 tied, 166 above on Product Integrity. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] Uber's mobility and delivery services provide real transportation and logistics utility, while the driver-earnings settlement and contractor-dependent model show labor-risk shifting inside the product experience. [8]
Scale Integrity ? Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.	2 / 5	Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. That places Uber in the middle of Scale Integrity: scale brings useful reach but also weakens accountability, transparency, or local constraint. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 31 scored entries below, 18 tied, 177 above on Scale Integrity. Linked evidence context Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures. [1] context Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms. [2] Uber reports large global platform scale and growing trips, while the same scale amplifies driver classification, insurance, and platform-rule risks; scale therefore increases usefulness but does not discipline the underlying accountability problem. [9]

Penalties

Penalty	Applied	Why this penalty
Human Harm ? Severity, scale, culpability, vulnerable targets, willful reoffense, reputation laundering, pattern escalation, and time decay. Range: -20 to 0.	-3	The FTC driver-earnings settlement is relevant to the human-harm penalty because alleged earnings and vehicle-financing misrepresentations affected workers' livelihoods rather than only platform pricing. The FTC driver-earnings settlement is relevant to the human-harm penalty because alleged earnings and vehicle-financing misrepresentations affected workers' livelihoods rather than only platform pricing. That warrants a limited Human Harm penalty because ordinary operation, documented misconduct, or institutional power creates serious injury, deprivation, abuse, or foreseeable human damage. The value is limited because the linked record shows a real problem but not one that dominates the profile on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 52 scored entries below, 1 tied, 173 above on Human Harm. Linked evidence The FTC driver-earnings settlement is relevant to the human-harm penalty because alleged earnings and vehicle-financing misrepresentations affected workers' livelihoods rather than only platform pricing. [10]
Policy Capture ? Private-interest attempts to bend law, regulation, subsidies, taxes, enforcement, trade, labor, safety, competition, environmental, healthcare, housing, surveillance, civil-liberties, or consumer policy against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, or ecological life. Public-interest advocacy is not penalized merely because it is lobbying. Range: -15 to 0.	-5	OpenLobby records UBER TECHNOLOGIES. Linked evidence OpenLobby records UBER TECHNOLOGIES. INC. lobbying on labor with about $770K in spending across 17 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. [13]
High-Carbon Products ? Core products, services, financing, or supply chains that materially depend on fossil-fuel combustion, high-emissions transport, industrial animal agriculture, meat, dairy, or other unusually carbon-intensive activity. This is scored separately from general ecological harm so ordinary consumers can see carbon-intensive product exposure directly. Range: -10 to 0.	-5	Combustion transport, vehicle fleets, fuel, rental trucks, or transport platforms create material high-carbon exposure. Linked evidence Uber has combustion transport exposure high-carbon product exposure based on its listed business model and current profile description: A public ride-hailing and delivery platform that sells transport coordination while relying on contractor labor, driver-extraction claims, and regulatory arbitrage. Uber remains weak because of documented human harm, id… [14]
Price Manipulation ? Opaque, personalized, dynamic, urgency-based, algorithmic, hidden-fee, or market-power pricing that prevents customers from knowing the real price or exploits dependency, scarcity, or information asymmetry. Transparent posted pricing and genuinely public rate cards are not penalized here. Range: -5 to 0.	-3	Uber belongs in a material Price Manipulation tier because ride pricing is algorithmic, demand-sensitive, and hard for riders or drivers to audit. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Price Manipulation rollout; full column calibration should be revisited as pricing-practice evidence is added. Linked evidence Uber states that fares can include dynamic pricing or surge pricing when demand is high, including in upfront fare calculations. [15]
Unilateral Terms ? Non-negotiable clickthrough or adhesion terms that turn ordinary customer, user, subscriber, patient, tenant, or public-facing access into a one-sided contract, especially forced arbitration, class-action or mass-action waivers, unilateral modification, venue restrictions, broad indemnity, account termination discretion, or essential-service access conditioned on unreadable terms. Range: -5 to 0.	-4	Uber belongs near the bottom on Unilateral Terms because ordinary ride, delivery, and driver-platform access is conditioned on a dense private terms regime that channels many disputes into individual arbitration and limits collective procedures. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Unilateral Terms rollout; full column calibration should be revisited as terms-of-service evidence is added. Linked evidence Uber's U.S. General Terms require many disputes related to the terms, service access, accidents, and the user relationship to be resolved through binding individual arbitration rather than court, with class-action and mass-action limits. [16]
Identity Capture ? Customer pressure, employee pressure, and pervasive identity saturation. Range: -3 to 0.	-1	Uber's driver and rider accounts create platform dependence for work access, reputation, and transportation demand. Uber's driver and rider accounts create platform dependence for work access, reputation, and transportation demand. That warrants a limited Identity Capture penalty because users, workers, customers, or publics are pressured into identity attachment that protects institutional power. The value is limited because the linked record shows a real problem but not one that dominates the profile on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 24 scored entries below, 6 tied, 196 above on Identity Capture. Linked evidence Uber's driver and rider accounts create platform dependence for work access, reputation, and transportation demand. [11]
Ideological Disavowal ? Concealed ideology presented as neutrality, expertise, professional necessity, public-service administration, market inevitability, or non-ideological common sense while exercising power. Range: -3 to 0.	-1	Uber's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because Uber shows bounded neutrality theater: some contested choices are softened through expertise, public-interest,… Uber's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because Uber shows bounded neutrality theater: some contested choices are softened through expertise, public-interest, professional, market, safety, or institutional language, but the record does not show dominant concealment of standpoint. That warrants a limited Ideological Disavowal penalty because the institution presents situated, contested choices as neutrality, expertise, inevitability, safety, or common sense. The value is limited because the linked record shows a real problem but not one that dominates the profile on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Ideological Disavowal 0 to -3 recalibration: 0 for explicit standpoint or no penalty-level neutrality theater; -1 for bounded softening of contested choices; -2 for strong neutrality theater by a powerful institution; -3 for major gatekeeping or coercive power presented as neutral, necessary, objective, or non-ideological. Uncertainty This recalibration uses public self-presentation and profile evidence; later review should add direct language-analysis evidence for high-impact institutions. Linked evidence Uber's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because Uber shows bounded neutrality theater: some contested choices are softened through expertise, public-interest, professional, market, safety, or institutional language, but the record does not show dominant concealment of standpoint. [12]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

High 85/100

16 verified linked claims 16 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 16/16 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 17/20

16 verified linked claims

Source quality 16/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 14/18

16 direct claims across 16 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 10/10

16/16 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending

VerificationUnverified

ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)

ThoroughnessPartial (AI)

Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.

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Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

1Uber is a publicly traded corporation governed through shareholder-facing investor and board structures.

Ownership Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 4, 2026

Uber investor relationsOfficial self-description · 68%

2Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle FTC charges that it exaggerated prospective driver earnings and vehicle financing terms.

Labor Sovereignty Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 4, 2026

FTC Uber driver earnings settlementPrimary public record · 100%

3Uber's Form 10-K describes a platform model serving drivers, merchants, consumers, and other participants while corporate management controls the marketplace rules; affected drivers and riders use the system without democratic rule-setting power.

Governance Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber 2025 Form 10-KPrimary public record · 100%

4Uber reports that substantially all revenue comes from fees paid by drivers and merchants for platform use, making platform take-rate extraction from dependent counterparties central to the business model.

Extraction Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber 2025 Form 10-KPrimary public record · 100%

5Uber warns that being required to classify drivers as employees would materially affect its model, which shows that current labor access is organized around contractor status rather than durable employment protection for people who lose access to the platform.

Solidarity Unemployed Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber 2025 Form 10-KPrimary public record · 100%

6The FTC earnings and vehicle-financing settlement is loss-bearing evidence because alleged recruitment misrepresentations shifted income and vehicle-financing risk onto prospective drivers while Uber preserved platform growth.

Loss Bearing Fidelity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

FTC Uber driver earnings settlementPrimary public record · 100%

7Uber's annual report describes a large marketplace connecting riders, drivers, merchants, shippers, and consumers; the service is useful but organized through platform dependency and corporate rule control.

Market Conduct Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber 2025 Form 10-KPrimary public record · 100%

8Uber's mobility and delivery services provide real transportation and logistics utility, while the driver-earnings settlement and contractor-dependent model show labor-risk shifting inside the product experience.

Product Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber 2025 Form 10-KPrimary public record · 100%
FTC Uber driver earnings settlementPrimary public record · 100%

9Uber reports large global platform scale and growing trips, while the same scale amplifies driver classification, insurance, and platform-rule risks; scale therefore increases usefulness but does not discipline the underlying accountability problem.

Scale Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber 2025 Form 10-KPrimary public record · 100%

10The FTC driver-earnings settlement is relevant to the human-harm penalty because alleged earnings and vehicle-financing misrepresentations affected workers' livelihoods rather than only platform pricing.

Human Harm Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 5, 2026

FTC Uber driver earnings settlementPrimary public record · 100%

11Uber's driver and rider accounts create platform dependence for work access, reputation, and transportation demand.

Identity Capture Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 4, 2026

Uber driver appGeneral web source · 58%

12Uber's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because Uber shows bounded neutrality theater: some contested choices are softened through expertise, public-interest, professional, market, safety, or institutional language, but the record does not show dominant concealment of standpoint.

Ideological Disavowal Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 9, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber official siteOfficial self-description · 68%
FTC Uber driver earnings settlementPrimary public record · 100%
Uber driver appGeneral web source · 58%

13OpenLobby records UBER TECHNOLOGIES. INC. lobbying on labor with about $770K in spending across 17 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role.

Policy Capture Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — UBER TECHNOLOGIES. INC. lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

14Uber has combustion transport exposure high-carbon product exposure based on its listed business model and current profile description: A public ride-hailing and delivery platform that sells transport coordination while relying on contractor labor, driver-extraction claims, and regulatory arbitrage. Uber remains weak because of documented human harm, id…

High Carbon Products Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 11, 2026

Uber public siteOfficial self-description · 68%
EPA: Transportation Sector EmissionsPrimary public record · 100%

15Uber states that fares can include dynamic pricing or surge pricing when demand is high, including in upfront fare calculations.

Price Manipulation Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber Help: How are fares calculated?General web source · 58%
Uber Help: How do upfront fares work?General web source · 58%

16Uber's U.S. General Terms require many disputes related to the terms, service access, accidents, and the user relationship to be resolved through binding individual arbitration rather than court, with class-action and mass-action limits.

Unilateral Terms Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Uber General Terms of UseGeneral web source · 58%

17Uber receives the Private Government badge because it combines large-scale private rule-setting over customers, workers, users, members, or counterparties with OpenLobby-documented lobbying of about $770K on public policy issues.

Private Government Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — UBER TECHNOLOGIES. INC. lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

Alternatives

Competitors

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Audit Log

Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.

May 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding toxic-products-assessment

Added tentative AI-generated Toxic Products penalty 0 and directory value for current toxic, addictive, pesticide, livestock, chemical, or consumer-safety product exposure.

View Full Audit Log