Uber

Uber powers emergency food deliveries in Ukraine

The tech firm is working with the UN's World Food Programme (WFP).

It's difficult for large delivery trucks to access some parts of Ukraine because of structural damage and the threat of attack.

Uber's platform enables the WFP to co-ordinate a fleet of smaller vehicles.

The WFP is hand-picking its own drivers and vehicles, but some are former Uber drivers who worked in Ukraine before the Russian invasion.

Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi said his firm had given the WFP "their own private-label Uber".

Uber faces $AU26m fine after admitting to misleading customers

This admission was the result of an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which is suing Uber in the Federal Court.

Both parties are making joint submissions to the court for a fine of $AU26 million to be imposed.

Given that Uber has already admitted to breaching Australian consumer law, the court needs to decide on the appropriate penalty - which may end up being different to what Uber and the ACCC are seeking.

Uber: We did not steal Google's self-driving tech

Waymo - a company spun out of Google - filed a lawsuit in February claiming former employee Andrew Levandowski had stolen 14,000 documents relating to LiDAR, a core technology used to guide autonomous vehicles.

Mr Levandowski went on to co-found Otto, a self-driving truck company acquired by Uber for $660m last year.

Waymo requested a judge grant an injunction on the use of the disputed technology, which could take Uber’s self-driving fleet - currently being tested in a few locations in the US - off the roads.

Cheating Frenchman sues Uber for tipping off wife about affair

The man says he once requested an Uber driver from his wife's phone.

Despite logging off, the application continued to send notifications to her iPhone afterwards, revealing his travel history and arousing her suspicions.

The couple have since divorced. The lawsuit is reportedly worth up to €45m ($48m; £38m).

"My client was the victim of a bug in an application," his lawyer David-André Darmon told AFP news agency after the case was lodged at a court in Grasse.

"The bug has caused him problems in his private life," Mr Darmon added.

Uber suspends its service in Taiwan as fines mount

The company said it hoped the withdrawal of the ride-hailing app would persuade Taiwan's leadership to think again.

"We have not made this decision lightly, as we know it will have a significant impact on hundreds of thousands of drivers and riders," Uber said in a statement that criticized the Taiwan government for failing to embrace innovation.

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Uber pushes back on Trump's order after #DeleteUber starts trending

CEO Travis Kalanick tweeted Sunday afternoon that Trump's travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries "is against everything Uber stands for." He said the ban affects thousands of Uber drivers.

Kalanick said Uber would compensate drivers for lost earnings if they're unable to work because of the ban. Uber also set up a $3 million legal defense fund for the "wrong and unjust" ban.

Lastly, Kalanick said he would pressure the president to "stand up for what's right." The Uber CEO is an adviser on Trump's economic council.

Uber defies demand to cease self-driving

The company started testing the vehicles this week, but the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has said the firm must have a test permit.

Uber said it did not need one as they have a safety driver at the wheel, and is going to ignore the demand.

California's attorney general - the state's most senior government lawyer - said Uber must cease the driving immediately or face further action.

Uber 'discriminates on gender and race'

Black riders faced longer wait times and more frequent cancellations than white riders, the research indicates.

Women were more likely to be overcharged or taken on elongated routes, it says.

Researchers took nearly 1,500 rides in Seattle and Boston, gathering data from three taxi-hailing companies.

The two-year study was conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and the University of Washington.

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Flying cars are a possibility, Uber says

Sure, Jetson had a flying car, but he still piloted it with a joystick.

In a 98-page report released Thursday, Uber described the potential of autonomous flying cars to free frustrated commuters from the wretchedness of clogged highways. Uber believes that within a decade it will be possible to build a network of affordable, electric flying cars that take off and land vertically at speeds of up to 200 mph.

Uber sells Chinese business to Didi Chuxing

The two firms have been fierce competitors, but Didi Chuxing dominates the Chinese market with an 87% share.

Uber China launched in 2014 but has failed to make any profit so far.

Cheng Wei, founder and chief executive of Didi Chuxing, said the two companies had "learned a great deal from each other over the past two years in China's burgeoning new economy".

He added that the deal would "set the mobile transportation industry on a healthier, more sustainable path of growth at a higher level".