I think you might mean this as a "gotcha" but it is the correct way to move forward, for both individuals and the nation. Incorporation allows the kind of formalization that the government prefers, and that point the government is much more willing to recognize an independent supplier.

There's the $800 California LLC annual fee, which is the highest in the country, and applies before you make a dollar in revenue.

You don't need an LLC to run a business. Plenty of sole proprietors do this along with filing self employment taxes without ever forming an LLC.

Does something prevent incorporating in another location that allows it? Doubt it.

Of course they could do that, but any corporation or LLC that does business in California [1] (surely a Uber driver operating in California would be considered as such) has to pay the fee. Incorporating out of state would just mean a second set of fees and more forms to file.

[1] https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/business/doing-business-in-calif...

Ah, I did not know that. Thanks

No, because Adorama is a company, and companies can't be employees...

Nothing prevents drivers from registering LLCs to drive for uber, and that is in fact what the CA DOL website says is a bare minimum for satisfying another part of AB5.

That’s exactly how they operate in, for example, Croatia. Every driver owns an LLC.

Couldn't Uber allow other operating companies to use its service along with Raiser/Raizer LLC as long as they follow certain platform terms?

The people absolutely required for Amazon to function are actual employees. Remove drivers and Uber’s business instantly shuts down literally that second, but Amazon can keep selling until their inventory runs out. Amazon.com sells inanimate objects or intellectual property which can’t be employees. Uber sells rides which require a physical person to preform them.

So, I really don’t understand what your trying to convey.