Uber has begun testing a new remuneration system for its partner drivers in Brazil. This format, called the 'Driver Pass,' proposes replacing the service fee applied to each trip with a single charge, allowing the driver to receive 100% of the value of rides accumulated during the plan's validity period.
In practice, the driver no longer bears the platform fee on trips covered by the pass, paying only the cost of the pass itself. At the end of the cycle, any fees charged individually during the week are recalculated: if the amount paid to Uber exceeds the price of the pass, this difference will be refunded to the app account.
The program is structured into two main options. The 'Time Pass' grants unlimited rides without the service fee for a period of 24 or 72 hours after paying a predetermined amount. This pass is activated automatically after the first ride and does not affect the time limits the driver can remain connected to the system.
The 'Earnings Pass,' on the other hand, requires a single payment and exempts the driver from the service fee until they reach a revenue limit established by Uber. This benefit remains valid until the cap is reached or for a maximum period of 180 days after purchase, whichever comes first.
Uber informed that the costs of the 'Driver Pass' range between R$ 19 and R$ 97, depending on the chosen modality and the specific conditions of each location where the test is being conducted. The company also clarified that services such as Uber Eats and Uber Send may not be part of this program.
The charge occurs only after activation and is debited directly from the driver's wallet in the app. If there is insufficient balance, the amount is registered as a negative debit and will be compensated with future earnings. It is important to note that once activated, the pass cannot be suspended or temporarily paused, and upon expiration, it cannot be reactivated, even for subsequent adjustments to any ride.
According to Uber, this modality had already been made available to motorcyclists in several Brazilian cities and was expanded to car drivers starting May 25th in selected municipalities. These locations include Divinópolis (MG), Juiz de Fora (MG), Uruguaiana (RS), Petrópolis (RJ), Cascavel (PR), Botucatu (SP), Teresina (PI), Porto Velho (RO), Rio Branco (AC), Imperatriz (MA), Itabuna (BA), and Ilhéus (BA).
Eligible drivers receive notifications via email and through the app inbox, and specific prices for each city can be checked in the dedicated Uber Driver section. The company emphasizes that purchasing or activating the pass does not guarantee a minimum number of rides, as this remains dependent on variables such as demand, time, weather conditions, and traffic.
Fireworks AI successfully raised $1.5 billion in a Series D funding round, boosting its valuation to $17.5 billion. This growth is driven by high demand for platforms that allow companies to build and run their own artificial intelligence models independently.
With the new capital, Fireworks plans to strengthen its computing power, hire more engineers, and solidify partnerships with leading cloud service providers. Furthermore, the company announced annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, representing a fivefold increase compared to the previous year.
The round was led by Atreides Management, Index Ventures, and TCV, with support from major players such as NVIDIA, Lightspeed, Evantic Capital, Bessemer, Menlo Ventures, Insight Partners, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and Lone Pine Capital. Fireworks was founded in 2022 by Lin Xiao and six former Meta engineers. The company helps organizations fine-tune open AI models, aiming to become a platform for creating custom intelligence that meets specific needs rather than relying entirely on closed models.
Fireworks AI forecasts that the next generation of enterprise artificial intelligence will focus on models developed for specific companies. Since every business has a unique set of data, workflows, and knowledge, these can become specialized AI skills. The company found that about 95% of processed tokens in its system come from user models, not standard base models. Fireworks offers a portfolio of over 200 text, image, and multimodal models.
The company's services are used by major clients such as Uber, Shopify, Doximity, Elastic, GitLab, and MongoDB. Fast-growing AI firms like Harvey and Cursor also rely on Fireworks' infrastructure. In addition to clients, the figures are impressive: earlier this year, Fireworks strengthened its collaboration with Microsoft, giving Microsoft customers access to AI models on the Fireworks platform running on the compute resources of over 20 different infrastructure providers. Gavin Baker from Atreides Management notes a trend where more and more businesses will begin combining advanced AI models with customizable open-source options tailored to their needs. The daily volume of tokens passing through the platform has increased from 15 trillion to over 40 trillion.
The new funds will be directed towards developing global computing infrastructure, increasing the engineering staff, and strengthening ties with cloud providers. The company currently employs 200 people and expects its staff to triple by the end of the year amid sustained demand. Fireworks asserts that its specialized models match or exceed closed models on a range of business-specific tasks at a significantly lower cost. Fireworks is betting on the growing interest of enterprises in gaining more control over AI performance, costs, and data security.
The social network X has introduced new guidelines to penalize accounts that use copied content from viral posts. These changes aim to redirect revenue generated by plagiarized publications to the original creators.
Nikita Bier, the network's product chief, announced the updates on the platform this Thursday, July 16. X will start employing an advanced version of Grok, the artificial intelligence developed by Elon Musk's xAI, to locate duplicated texts and videos with greater speed and accuracy.
The company claims that the new mechanism can identify stolen material three times faster and more accurately compared to the previous version. Bier clarified that the system will maintain copy recognition even if the user adds watermarks or other visual elements to the content.
Repeated use of copied content can result in the user's exclusion from the monetization program. Detection will also extend to phrases that are constantly repeated on the network, such as the cited example of 'Twitter is like the smoking area of the internet.' Recently, about 1.5 million stolen posts were identified, and X projects that the new rules will allow directing over US$1 million—equivalent to approximately R$5.5 million in direct conversion—that would previously have gone to infringing accounts.
Furthermore, X will strengthen the fight against so-called 'engagement baits,' which are posts created solely to artificially inflate a account's revenue through likes, replies, or shares. Profiles caught posting this type of message three times may be removed from the monetization program.
Bier mentioned examples of such promises, such as 'I will follow back everyone who replies to this post.' After the third infraction, the case may be forwarded to the X policy team for potential account suspension. He reported that on that day alone, about 4 thousand accounts were removed from the monetization program.
In a continuous effort to encourage the creation of original material, Bier had already signaled the intention to decrease the dissemination of recycled posts by presenting new video editing features on the platform. This is because many of the content that goes viral on X are, in fact, copies of existing material on other social networks, such as Instagram and Facebook, especially in the video segment.
In parallel, X has strengthened its blocking and bot identification mechanisms. Bier recalled that in April, the platform's security tools were able to detect and suspend, on average, 208 automated accounts per minute, as reported by TechCrunch.
Electricity is an integral part of modern life, powering residential buildings, enterprises, educational institutions, hospitals, transport systems, and digital infrastructure. Therefore, reliable energy supply is critically important for both economic growth and improving the quality of life for the population.
As Uzbekistan's economy expands, the demand for electricity also grows. This growth is driven by an increasing population, rapid urbanization, the development of new industries, and the widespread adoption of modern technologies and household appliances. To meet this growing demand, it is necessary not just to increase electricity production but to create a modern and sustainable energy system capable of supporting the country's long-term development.
Recognizing this need, Uzbekistan has initiated a comprehensive program of reforms in the energy sector. The main directions of this program include increasing generation capacity, modernizing infrastructure, attracting private investment, and accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources. The ultimate goal is to guarantee stable, efficient, and environmentally friendly electricity supply for all consumers in the country.
For many years, Uzbekistan's energy sector has faced significant pressure. As demand increased, numerous weaknesses in the existing system became apparent. During the autumn and winter period, power outages and disruptions in natural gas supply were observed in some regions, highlighting the urgent need for large-scale investment and modernization.
A significant part of the problem lay in the country's outdated infrastructure. Many power plants and electricity transmission networks were built decades ago and could no longer meet the demands of a rapidly growing economy. Simultaneously, urban expansion, the construction of new residential complexes, and industrial growth placed ever-increasing loads on the power grid, pushing existing capacity to its limits. Reliable access to energy is now considered a prerequisite for sustainable economic development, as its absence makes it harder to attract investment, expand production, create jobs, and improve living standards.
Renewable energy has become one of the fastest-growing segments of the global energy industry. Resources such as solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass offer a sustainable alternative to traditional and finite fossil fuels, the extraction of which is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive. In addition to ensuring long-term energy supply, renewables bring substantial environmental benefits. Unlike coal, oil, and natural gas, they produce minimal greenhouse gases during electricity generation, which helps improve air quality, reduce environmental pollution, and support the fight against climate change.
Renewable energy also strengthens energy security by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and forming a more diverse and resilient energy balance. A wider range of energy sources makes countries less vulnerable to fluctuations in global fuel prices or supply disruptions. Uzbekistan has made renewable energy a key element of its energy strategy. The active development of solar and wind energy projects is already increasing electricity generation while simultaneously reducing natural gas consumption and emissions. These investments help the country meet growing electricity demand, supporting both economic development and environmental sustainability.
In 2025, the global energy industry reached a historic milestone: for the first time in over a century, renewable energy sources generated more electricity than coal. This moment marks not only a major shift in the global energy balance but also an important step forward in climate action and sustainable development. According to international energy analysts, in 2025, the share of renewables accounted for 33.8% of global electricity production, while the share of coal decreased to 33%. This is the first time since 1919 that renewables surpassed coal as the world's largest source of electricity generation.
Despite this progress, fossil fuels continue to play a significant role in global electricity production, accounting for 24.4% of the total volume in 2025. Cumulatively, fossil fuels still generate more electricity worldwide than renewable sources. Nuclear energy also contributes, although its share is gradually decreasing, currently standing at about 9%. Experts note that the continuous expansion of renewable energy is accelerating the decarbonization of power supply systems worldwide.
Currently, 157 power plants operate in the country with a total installed capacity of 27,343 megawatts (MW). Although thermal power plants still account for the largest share of generating capacity, hydro, solar, and wind energy are actively expanding. Solar energy capacity has reached 3,930 MW, and wind capacity stands at 1,652 MW. Battery energy storage systems additionally provide 1,545 MW, reflecting the growing role of clean energy in Uzbekistan's power supply system.
Since the beginning of the year until June 15, Uzbekistan's power plants have generated 42.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. This is 2.3 billion kWh, or 6%, more compared to the same period last year, demonstrating the expansion of the country's generation capacity amid growing demand. The strongest growth is observed in the renewable energy sector: during the same period, hydro, solar, and wind power plants produced 9.8 billion kWh, which is 23% more than last year. This underscores the increasingly important role that renewable energy plays in the national energy system.
According to experts, the expansion of renewable energy not only increases electricity generation but also reduces Uzbekistan's dependence on natural gas. In May 2026 alone, large solar and wind power plants generated over 1.231 billion kWh of electricity. This allowed for savings of approximately 328 million cubic meters of natural gas and prevented the release of about 707,000 tons of harmful emissions into the atmosphere. These figures also illustrate the environmental advantages of the country's energy transition.
The ongoing transformation of Uzbekistan's energy sector is a central element of the country's long-term development strategy. Expanding generation, constructing new facilities, and upgrading outdated infrastructure help the country cope with constantly growing demand. Concurrently, reforms aimed at attracting private investment, strengthening international partnerships, and accelerating the adoption of renewable energy are transforming the sector and opening up new opportunities for economic growth, thereby enhancing Uzbekistan's investment attractiveness.
