Viral AI hoax puts food delivery apps' trust issues in the spotlight
A Reddit post faking a whistleblower leak about a major food delivery app (later implied to be UberEats) went viral, racking up 80,000+ upvotes before journalist Casey Newton revealed it was all AI-generated.
The hoax struck a nerve because food delivery platforms already have shaky reputations—so even fake stories feel believable.
How the fake fooled so many
The user behind the post shared an AI-made UberEats badge and a lengthy "internal document" describing a made-up "desperation score" algorithm that supposedly rigged driver assignments and let companies steal tips.
DoorDash's CEO Tony Xu quickly denied any involvement on X, while Uber's COO Andrew Macdonald called it out as a hoax.
Why this matters now
This episode shows how easy it is for AI-generated disinformation to go viral—especially when real scandals (like DoorDash's past $16.75 million tip-theft settlement) make these companies hard to trust.
It's a reminder: not everything you see online is real, but skepticism around big delivery apps isn't going away anytime soon.