"It’s our talent and our labor that’s fueled the current gains in AI... and because we made it, we have the power to change it." Krista Pawlowski from @turkopticon.bsky.social reminds us how organized workers can shape the future of tech. inthesetimes.com/article/amaz...

Hear from our own @brookh.bsky.social and others on how the landscape of AI training is changing: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Doctors and Lawyers Are Joining AI’s $400-an-Hour Gig Economy

As AI models demand more specialized knowledge, highly paid experts are joining an industry long associated with low-wage data work.

bloomberg.com

MTurk may be gone, but many requesters and the work they offer haven’t disappeared. We’ll continue sharing where workers can find familiar requesters and new opportunities.

As MTurk closes today, the work isn’t disappearing. Some requesters are moving to other platforms, while others have created their own sites. Here’s one to check out: Piper - www.piperpays.com You may remember them as PickFU on Mturk

Workers, key points on Mturk closing per their FAQ: You will have access to your tranaction history until Jan 28th, 2027 Hits/Bonuses have until Oct 30th, 2026 to pay You will recieve your last payout based on your pay settings after the last payout to your individual account www.mturk.com/help

"Meta-acquired Assured Robot Intelligence along with Handshake AI and Mercor are among those accused of deliberately misclassifying data annotators, engineers & others to dodge minimum wage, overtime & other employment benefits afforded to employees." news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

AI Data Trainers Suits Open New Misclassification Fight Frontier

A new crop of worker misclassification lawsuits brought by AI trainers will potentially benefit from a worker-friendly test forged in earlier gig economy battles and the data trails created by their w...

news.bloomberglaw.com

Workers, what memories do you have of Mturk? What will you miss? What is better on the many platforms that have spawned due to Amazons negligence? www.cnbc.com/2026/08/25/a...

Amazon service Bezos once called 'artificial artificial intelligence' is shutting down

Mechanical Turk launched in 2005 as a way to farm out tasks that are easy for humans to complete but too challenging for computers.

cnbc.com

Here I talk a bit about the decline of Mturk and a bit of reassurance that @turkopticon.bsky.social is still here for the worker, no matter where you land. www.cnbc.com/2026/08/25/a...

Amazon service Bezos once called 'artificial artificial intelligence' is shutting down

Mechanical Turk launched in 2005 as a way to farm out tasks that are easy for humans to complete but too challenging for computers.

cnbc.com

While we all process this, Turkopticon would like to remind everyone, we are still here and we will go where our workers go. Stay tuned as we figure out where some of our favorite requesters are heading.

Louise Matsakis@lmatsakis.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Amazon is officially shutting down Mechanical Turk next month. It feels like the end of an era. I've written about the platform on and off for close to a decade. We wouldn't have the AI tools we do now if it weren't for the low-paid, largely invisible labor of MTurkers

💯 what Louise said. And for any reporters covering this: please talk to @turkopticon.bsky.social @kristap.bsky.social for perspective on what this means for this labor force.

Louise Matsakis@lmatsakis.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Amazon is officially shutting down Mechanical Turk next month. It feels like the end of an era. I've written about the platform on and off for close to a decade. We wouldn't have the AI tools we do now if it weren't for the low-paid, largely invisible labor of MTurkers

Workers on Mturk, how do you feel about this announcement? Remember Turkopticon helps all data workers, even if they sundown Mturk, we'll still be here fighting for you, wherever you go.

Is AI coming for your job? Researchers aren’t as certain as news headlines suggest. Some of the most expansive, rigorous research we read found that it's unclear whether, when, or how AI will displace jobs, but these papers are less likely to be cited in the news. www.youtube.com/shorts/uTSem...

Is AI coming for your job? Researchers aren’t as certain as news headlines suggest.

YouTube video by TechEquity

youtube.com

For our workers on Prolifc, if you are unaware, Prolific has a question and answer thread each week on Reddit. Head over if you have any questions you want answered by Prolific www.reddit.com/r/ProlificAc...

From the ProlificAc community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the ProlificAc community

reddit.com

#Mturk workers, suspensions of accounts working on Vacation Rentals are being reported. We've reached out to our Amazon contact and urge you to email mturk-account-appeals@amazon.com and fill out our suspension form: blog.turkopticon.net?page_id=653

The mother of two young children, Sonia saw an opportunity to provide for her family through content moderation work. The reality of working for the Meta subcontractor Sama, though, was brutal—despite the company advertising itself as an “ethical data pipeline” provider.

Circuit Breakers, the conference for tech worker organizing, by and for fellow workers, is coming back to NYC on October 17-18, and submissions are still open. Whet your appetite and get hype with the plenary keynotes from last year. www.youtube.com/@techworkers...

At the opening of the 114th International Labour Conference, ILO Director-General Gilbert F Houngbo calls for a human-centred approach to artificial intelligence and #SocialJustice in a time of growing global uncertainty. Read more: https://ow.ly/hvKk50Z6Kp7 #ILC2026

“The future of work will not be determined by technology alone,” says ILO Director-General

At the opening of the 114th International Labour Conference, Gilbert F. Houngbo calls for a human-centred approach to artificial intelligence and social justice in a time of growing global uncertainty.

ow.ly

Turkopticon is proud to be part of the Global Platform Workers Solidarity Project. Our organizer @kristap.bsky.social is in Nairobi meeting with worker leaders from around the world.

Mustafa Qadri@mustafaqadri.bsky.social · 6mo ago

And we are finally here! 100 delegates, over 30 countries, workers united demanding big tech respect their rights, safety and organising. Look forward to the next three busy days of strategising for the ILC and building the Global Platform Workers Solidarity Project. ✊🏽❤️

While Jeff Bezos co-hosted the Met Gala, workers held their own red carpet to keep the focus on what really matters. A round of applause for Ash Judd, Amazon STL8 warehouse worker in St. Louis and leader with @moworkers.org!

Know what a REAL fashion statement is? Workers using the runway to tell THEIR stories of being exploited by billionaires. #LaborIsArt

“The sample [of breached data] included material referencing Slack data and what appeared to be ticketing data, as well as two videos purportedly showing conversations between Mercor’s AI systems and contractors on its platform.” bsky.app/profile/tech...

TechCrunch@techcrunch.com · 8mo ago

The AI recruiting startup confirmed a security incident after an extortion hacking crew took credit for stealing data from the company's systems.

Data workers — particularly if you’ve ever done work on Mercor — please read the post below and get connected to @turkopticon.bsky.social! bsky.app/profile/turk...

Turkopticon@turkopticon.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Dataworkers, if you work on Mercor.ai, please be aware they were involved with a data breach. Considering the level of information they retain on workers, we wanted to make this announcement so you can take steps to protect your identity.

Dataworkers, if you work on Mercor.ai, please be aware they were involved with a data breach. Considering the level of information they retain on workers, we wanted to make this announcement so you can take steps to protect your identity.

We are proud to be members of the Athena Coalition.

Athena Coalition@athenaforall.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We’re a coalition of 50+ organizations challenging the power of Amazon: the corporation posing the single greatest threat to our economy and democracy today. The company is a symptom of billionaires hoarding wealth and power at everyone else’s expense.

Here is a quick rundown of what Turkopticon did in 2025. Looking forward to a productive 2026!

Dataworkers, keep your security and worth in mind when choosing hits to work on. We have noticed an increase in jobs asking for sensitive data from workers. Read more here:

Are you a tech worker who wants to get connected to community and resources? We’re building a tech worker group to give updates on our campaigns, share resources, and come together to brainstorm how to close the equity gap between contract and directly hired workers. techequity.us/join-the-tec...

Join the Tech Worker Group - TechEquity Collaborative

Get updates on our campaigns and come together to brainstorm how to close the equity gap between contract and directly-hired workers.

techequity.us

Looking for some fun end-of-year reading? I'm proud that in 2025, Swati Chintala and I (the labor team at @techequity.bsky.social) released four research projects at the intersection of labor and technology: 🧵

Despite making critical contributions to the booming AI industry, data workers often report that they aren’t treated like the skilled, valuable workers that they are. So, from @alphabetworkersunion.org to @turkopticon.bsky.social, data workers are organizing for better pay and working conditions.

Our very own @brookh.bsky.social and @kristap.bsky.social shared with Varsha Bansal the concerns they have with AI from the perspective of workers who are fine-tuning it. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Meet the AI workers who tell their friends and family to stay away from AI

When the people making AI seem trustworthy are the ones who trust it the least, it shows that incentives for speed are overtaking safety, experts say

theguardian.com