Uber Now Offering Contractors for Machine Learning Projects

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Key Takeaways

  • Uber Technologies Inc. has launched Scaled Solutions, a division focused on AI training and data labeling services for businesses, leveraging its gig-economy expertise.
  • The initiative involves onboarding independent contractors globally to perform annotation tasks for AI development.
  • Scaled Solutions already counts Aurora Innovation and Niantic among its clients and aims to compete in a growing market dominated by firms like Scale AI.

Uber is branching into artificial intelligence (AI) with the launch of Scaled Solutions, a division offering data labeling and AI training services.

Uber plans to connect businesses with independent contractors who can annotate data such as images, text, and videos. These annotations are vital for training AI models to recognize patterns and deliver accurate predictions.

Uber Onboards Contractors for AI Training Tasks As Scaled Solutions Serves Big Names in AI

According to a Bloomberg report, Uber has already begun onboarding contractors in regions including India, the U.S., Canada, Poland, and Nicaragua.

Workers are compensated on a per-task basis and are working on projects like validating AI model outputs, localizing products for specific markets, and digitizing data for training purposes.

This builds on Uber’s internal data labeling operations, which have supported its rideshare, Uber Eats, and freight services by ensuring map accuracy, testing new features, and localizing apps for diverse markets.

With Scaled Solutions, Uber extends its reach beyond internal projects to serve external clients.

Aurora Innovation Inc., an autonomous driving software developer, uses Uber’s contractors to validate road object classifications, such as pedestrians and vehicles.

Similarly, Niantic Inc., best known for Pokémon Go, employs Scaled Solutions to evaluate location data for building augmented reality maps.

This expansion into the AI market positions Uber to compete with established firms like Scale AI, which dominates the sector with a $14 billion valuation.

However, industry concerns persist about fair compensation for outsourced workers, particularly in developing countries.

Reports suggest contractors often receive minimal pay for labor-intensive tasks, highlighting challenges Uber may face in maintaining worker satisfaction.

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