The Atlantic

Europe's Message to Silicon Valley: Tech Is Not Special

The EU's highest court ruled that Uber isn’t just an app—it's a transportation company.
Source: Rafael Marchante / Reuters

What is Uber? The company’s standard answer is that it is a technology company—an app that matches people who want to get somewhere to people who will take them there for money. This is not wrong.

But, as the European Union’s highest court told the company on Wednesday, that answer is incomplete. Whether Uber likes it or not, it is, officially speaking, a transportation company.

The consequence of this designation is that, within the borders of the EU, the company will be regulated just like any other transportation company. That’s a big deal. It’s

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was
The Atlantic3 min readDiscrimination & Race Relations
The Legacy of Charles V. Hamilton and Black Power
This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present and surface delightful treasures. Sign up here. This week, The New York Times published news of the death of Charles V. Hamilton, the
The Atlantic6 min read
The Happy Way to Drop Your Grievances
Want to stay current with Arthur’s writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. In 15th-century Germany, there was an expression for a chronic complainer: Greiner, Zanner, which can be translated as “whiner-grumbler.” It was no

Related Books & Audiobooks