Thread

1. calibas · 1790002537 · focus · HN ↗

   > Stone rejected Uber's argument that it is "merely a technology company" connecting riders with drivers, finding that Uber provides transportation services to the public through its app, sets prices and controls key aspects of the rider experience.

   > The arbitrator also rejected Uber's argument that Proposition 22 -- a California ballot measure approved by voters in 2020 that allows companies to classify app-based drivers as independent contractors instead of employees -- prevented the company from being held liable for Tran's conduct.

   The dream of every major tech company, making ridiculous profits while taking zero legal responsibility for what you create...

   1. xhkkffbf · 1790004516 · focus · HN ↗

      The bad guy here is the driver. Could Uber have done more? That's what the arbitrators concluded.

      But the reality is that this is a victory for the driverless cars (Waymo, Tesla, etc.). If you want to force Uber to take responsibility for the driver, the simplest thing is to get rid of the driver.

      1. jlongr · 1790005000 · focus · HN ↗

         There's this prevailing narrative that someday self-driving cars will eliminate all human-controlled driving and that these types of stories are like milestones in the path to that future utopia.

         But I don't think that's the case anymore than the narrative that LLMs will eventually displace all software engineers.

         1. eru · 1790006528 · focus · HN ↗

            Self-driving cars and trucks will eliminate human-controlled driving in the same way that engines (ICE, electric, steam, whatever) have eliminated human and animal powered transportation.

            Yes, there are a few people around who ride horses, have an ox-cart or pedal their own bikes, but in a commercial sense, those are rounding errors.

            Compilers have already replaced software engineers producing native code by hand. (Apart from a handful of exceptions.) LLMs will and do have a similar impact one level higher.

            I'm really, really happy when I see my less technical friends suddenly vibe-code things they have dreamed up!

            1. jlongr · 1790083333 · focus · HN ↗

               People replying to me keep confounding human-controlled transportation with the transpo tech itself. Yes horse and buggy is long gone. But human-controlled transportation is still here, over the course of driving horses, gas cars, and now EVs.

               1. eru · 1790124552 · focus · HN ↗

                  We had trains without drivers on board for ages. Lifts also lost their attendants; and some buildings here in Singapore don't have controls inside the lift.

                  1. jlongr · 1790173814 · focus · HN ↗

                     Those are not personal road-going vehicles.

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