Uber’s secret ‘AI job’ pays up to $150 an hour but workers are reportedly ‘unhappy’

Tech giant Uber has expanded into the artificial intelligence (AI) space and is reportedly paying data trainers hourly rates of up to $150. However, contractors say the lucrative dream jobs quickly descended into a chaotic reality of zero-hour weeks, nonexistent training and sudden, unexplained firings. Business Insider shared the details of the ‘job’ after current and former contractors blew the whistle on “Uber AI Solutions,” the ride-hailing company’s AI training division.Citing workers onboarded between late last year and May 2026, the report says that Uber has been recruiting specialised talent to train Google's most sensitive artificial intelligence projects, including “Project Magi”, a multi-billion-dollar effort to inject conversational AI replies directly into its core search results.For tech gig workers, the initial draw of the project was the staggering paycheck. Contractors reported earning between $50 and $150 per hour. By comparison, standard AI data-annotation roles at competing firms typically top out around $30 an hour, the report claimed.However, workers quickly discovered that the massive hourly rate came with grueling and unpredictable scheduling hurdles. The report says that while Uber promised “flexible schedules,” internal emails revealed that contractors were forced to work at least 70% of their time between 9 am and 5 pm to accommodate mandatory corporate standup meetings.Moreover, schedules were reportedly dictated week-to-week by Google managers and handed out on Sunday nights. While some workers received a full 40-hour block, others were repeatedly assigned zero hours for the week and told to “check back next Sunday” – which is a massive departure from the stable hours offered by traditional tech contracting agencies.Multiple contractors said they were shocked at the total lack of corporate structure as workers were expected to begin vetting complex AI queries and mapping algorithmic data on day one without a single hour of formal instruction.“There was no orientation, no real training on anything,” Business Insider quoted one veteran contractor as saying. The worker added that when they previously trained AI for Google through a different agency, the onboarding process took several days and included rigorous identity verification and extensive training courses. At Uber, they were simply told to get to work.However, the most distressing part of the Uber AI Solutions pipeline is how fast and quietly the ax falls on these jobs. While recruitment flyers promised secure three-month contracts, many workers were cut loose within weeks. One experienced contractor was abruptly terminated just seven days after starting their role, with Uber providing no explanation for the firing, the report said.