ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on how Uber makes manifest conditions of “platform intermediation”, as the positive externalities that result from the translation of non-digital relationalities into data points are used to continuously modulate and expand platform reach. As a technology platform, like other major technology platforms, Uber enfolds many historical innovations achieved through open source technologies within an Uber-intermediated “platform ecosystem”. The chapter explores some of the key concepts of platform intermediation, and how these apply to Uber. The processual lens of platform intermediation highlights the nature of Uber as a relatively porous and diverse ecosystem of users, which is, via methods of algorithmic steering, nevertheless subject to highly opaque conditions of platform governance. The scale of investment poured into Uber by Softbank demonstrates a clear link between conditions of platform intermediation and financial intermediation, with Uber acting as a vehicle for speculation on the conditions of artificial intelligence-driven future infrastructure and asset management.
