Marketplace Morning Report A gig worker strike threatens New Year's Eve deliveries in India
Dec 31, 2025
Will Chalk, a journalist specializing in AI developments, dives into the impactful strike by app-based delivery workers in India, demanding fair wages and safer working conditions as New Year's Eve approaches. He also discusses a British company's exciting progress toward manufacturing materials in space. The conversation shifts to the tumultuous landscape of AI in 2025, highlighting trust issues, censorship debates, and the creative potential of AI in music production, touching on copyright controversies and the evolving relationship between artists and technology.
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Gig Workers Time Strike For Maximum Leverage
- Tens of thousands of app-based delivery workers in India are striking on New Year's Eve to demand better pay, safety, and social security.
- The strike targets one of the year's busiest delivery days to maximize leverage against platforms.
Scale And Social Media Amplify Demands
- About 10 million delivery workers operate in India's gig economy and many want a minimum monthly salary and insurance.
- Social media creators urged a one-day app boycott to support the strike and amplify its effect.
Space Manufacturing Could Yield Purer Crystals
- A UK firm, SpaceForge, tested a 'mini factory' in orbit to reach ~1,000°C for semiconductor crystal growth.
- Weightlessness and vacuum could yield much purer crystals than Earth-based manufacturing.