In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a new App Drivers Union joined forces with Boston Carmen's Union Local 589 and Teamsters Local 25 to press city officials over the growing presence of Waymo vehicles mapping local streets ahead of an eventual driverless rollout. Drivers, including former cab operators who already lost income to Uber and Lyft, say they fear a second wave of disruption from autonomous vehicles. The group cited Atlanta, where the Rideshare Drivers Union reports lower pay, longer wait times, and fewer fares since Waymo launched there in summer 2025.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-31
Rivian plans to roll out a point-to-point hands-free driving feature to employees in 2026 and to customers in 2027, followed by a robotaxi launch with Uber in 2028. Rivian finance VP Derek Mulvey called autonomy a key product differentiator and long-term value driver during an earnings call. The company's R2 vehicle has meanwhile become Rivian's best-selling model by volume.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-30
The Federal Trade Commission has sent formal information requests to nine companies, including Walmart, Uber and Delta, demanding details on how they use consumer data to set prices. The agency says it wants to determine whether firms are charging individual consumers the highest price they are willing to pay based on personal data collected about them.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-29
DoorDash announced plans to buy grocery delivery platform Instacart in a deal valued at roughly $17 billion. The acquisition would add Instacart's grocery marketplace and retailer partnerships to DoorDash's existing delivery business. The deal follows days of reports that Instacart had been in talks with both DoorDash and Uber about a potential sale.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-29
DoorDash is said to be in late-stage talks to acquire grocery delivery company Instacart in a deal worth about $17 billion, according to sources cited in reports. An announcement could come as soon as midweek, though the deal is not final and could still collapse. Instacart had previously been linked to acquisition talks with Uber, which sources say are no longer active.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-27
Digital commerce company Olo has launched a new consumer-facing app for takeout and delivery, moving beyond its prior role as a behind-the-scenes B2B ordering software provider. The app partners with chains like Waffle House and independents like Frank Pepe's, and Olo says it does not mark up menu prices, claiming savings of 15-30% per item versus rival platforms.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-26
Instacart has reportedly hired an investment bank to explore strategic options and has discussed a potential sale with DoorDash, according to The Information. Bloomberg separately reported Instacart also talked with Uber, though Uber reportedly walked away from those discussions. Instacart's stock jumped more than 9.2% on the news, while shares of Uber and DoorDash fell.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-24
Uber and OpenAI announced an expansion of their partnership, with Uber confirming its entire 30,000-person global workforce will now use ChatGPT Work, OpenAI's enterprise AI tool launched in July. Uber had piloted the tool with 1,000 employees earlier this year, where about 80% of early users were non-engineers across finance, operations, and product teams.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-22
Two Cook County residents filed proposed class action suits against Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics, claiming the companies' delivery robots captured facial and body geometry data via cameras and lidar without consent, violating Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act. Plaintiffs Mitchell Breidinger and Barry Schain say they received robot deliveries through DoorDash and Uber Eats despite not choosing that option, and that neither company gave written notice about data collection or retention. Both companies deny recording biometric data of customers or bystanders, with Serve stating its cameras are used only for sidewalk navigation.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-21
Uber is offering some drivers cash bonuses for completing a set number of rides in a short window, according to Business Insider, which viewed screenshots including one $525 offer for 45 trips. Other deals translate to roughly $10-$12 extra per ride, and Uber is also paying up to $1,225 in referral bonuses for recruiting new or lapsed drivers.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-21
Olo, led by founder and CEO Noah Glass, has launched a nationwide food-delivery app on iOS and Android featuring 250 restaurant brands at launch. Unlike Uber Eats and DoorDash, Olo charges restaurants no commission-driven markups, instead charging users a flat 5 percent service fee plus delivery charges, with menu prices matching in-store pricing. The app also omits sponsored listings, showing a streamlined list of nearby restaurants and past orders.
wired.com
· 2026-10-20
Carolyn Marvin, a retired University of Pennsylvania communications professor, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after repeatedly standing in front of an Avride delivery robot operating for Uber Eats in Center City, Philadelphia. She ignored police requests to let the robot pass, and said she has confronted the machines on multiple occasions to protest what she sees as their replacement of human delivery workers.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-20
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