Uber AI: High Salaries but Unstable Hours

High Salaries but Uncertain Hours

Freelancers hired by Uber for its AI Solutions branch enjoy attractive pay, reaching up to $150 per hour. However, securing regular work hours proves to be a challenge. Four contractors shared their experiences, highlighting that maintaining the contract and accessing work hours are major concerns.

In May, some contractors received an unexpected invitation for a project called "Sandbox," after several months without news from the company. One contractor, approved to work since December, had not yet received any assignments until this invitation.

For years, Uber has transported passengers and burritos through independent drivers. Now, Uber is extending its freelance model to office jobs, such as AI training for clients — as part of the company's goal to become a "work platform," as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated last year. The company is entering a competitive field, with companies like Mercor and Snorkel AI specializing in AI training work. Uber has been aggressively recruiting contractors with PhDs to perform this work since late last year, Business Insider previously reported.

The jobs are attractive because they often offer high hourly rates, said Guggenheim Securities analyst Taylor Manley to Business Insider. "Many AI engineers probably have better income potential through this format compared to a traditional full-time job," Manley stated.

Four workers — two current and two recently laid off by Uber — indicated that the work paid a higher hourly rate than similar AI training positions they had held previously. The workers began their contracts with Uber and Google between last December and May. Three of the contractors worked on projects for Google, including the Magi project, the search giant's effort to add AI responses to search results.

Chaotic Schedules, High Pay

The contractors Business Insider spoke with reported earning between $50 and $150 per hour while working for Uber AI Solutions, its AI training division. Three of the workers had previously held similar contract roles at other AI training companies that paid up to $30 per hour.

Uber informed two of the workers via email that they would have flexible schedules — a key benefit for many freelancers — and that they should work between 20 and 40 hours per week, with management deciding the number of hours they would receive. The condition: workers had to complete at least 70% of their hours between 9 AM and 5 PM PT "to facilitate real-time collaboration and regular meetings," according to the email.

Google, the client, would assign hours to each worker week by week, said a contractor who managed a team of other Uber contractors. Weekly hours were typically communicated on Sunday for the upcoming week.

While some contractors received a quota close to a full-time job, others received no hours and were asked to check the following week in case hours were assigned to them. This system was different from the assignments that two of the workers had at other AI training companies, which included a consistent number of hours each week.

Once in position, contractors reported that they were expected to start working immediately. Neither Uber nor Google provided training on how to check queries or annotate data — a major difference compared to other AI training jobs, two of the workers stated.

One worker, who had previously trained AI for Google as a contractor for another company, told Business Insider that the onboarding process lasted several days and involved identity verification, signing non-disclosure agreements, and courses on how to perform the work. As part of the assignment at Uber, they received "no orientation, no real training on anything," said the contractor.

Sudden Layoffs

Although a job description sent to contractors indicated that their contracts would last three months, some reported that their time with Uber and Google ended earlier. Uber laid off some of its AI contractors working on a Google project about a month after the start of their three-month contracts last fall, Business Insider reported in November.

This year, the contractor who had experience training AI for Google through another company was laid off from their position at Uber about a week after starting, according to an email shared with Business Insider. The email did not provide a reason for the layoff.

Another worker, recruited and onboarded by Uber in the fall for a job that was supposed to pay $150 per hour, never received any hours. In December, he received an email stating that the project for which he had been hired was completed, and that Uber would contact him if they had more work for him.

In May, Uber sent him a new job: he could record short videos of himself speaking in different environments, such as a noisy café or a quiet library, for $10 each. The contractor stated that he completed these tasks as they were related to his AI experience, although it was not the work for which he had initially signed up. "At least it's something for my resume," he said.

The worker who received the sudden meeting invitation in May stated that the lack of clarity had persisted since he started working for Uber. At least one person from his team had been laid off since he began the assignment, he said. Business Insider confirmed the layoff.

No one at Uber or Google mentioned the layoff after it occurred, said the contractor. He learned about it from colleagues outside of work channels. "Nothing was discussed," said the contractor.