Overview
- The anonymous r/confession post alleging a hidden "Desperation Score" and other abuses drew over 87,000 upvotes and millions of views across platforms before Reddit moderators removed it Tuesday evening.
- Reporters were sent an apparent Uber Eats employee badge and an 18-page “internal” document; Google’s Gemini flagged the badge with a SynthID watermark, and Uber confirmed Uber Eats–branded badges do not exist.
- Platformer’s Casey Newton and The Verge detailed inconsistencies in the materials and language, with additional AI-text signals noted by tools such as Pangram and other detectors.
- DoorDash CEO Tony Xu publicly denied the claims and said such practices would be unacceptable, while Uber executives also stated the post was not about the company and called it fabricated.
- Coverage noted that prior, documented disputes over gig-worker pay made the false allegations seem plausible, underscoring the challenge of debunking viral AI-enabled misinformation.