Data-collection networks · Data-collection network
Scale AI
Scale AI runs a 'Data Engine for Physical AI' with a robotics lab and a distributed network of data collectors, plus teleoperation rigs. Its open self-serve contributor platform (Outlier) is mostly digital annotation today; physical collection is organized through its lab and partners. Scale AI also runs a separate program for credentialed experts, the Human Frontier Collective, and AITraining.jobs' review of that fellowship, a companion index of ours, sets out how it works and what it pays.
Outside reports
Is Scale AI legit?
AI data vendor whose Physical AI Data Engine takes in 1000+ hours of robot demonstration data a day. (checked on scale.com, 29 Oct 2026) It pays Robotics-project pay not published.
Joined through its own application (it publishes no job postings)
Robotics collection runs through Scale's lab and collection partners; payment terms are not published. (checked on scale.com, 29 Oct 2026)
Physical robot signup is less exposed than its digital work. (checked on outlier.ai, 29 Oct 2026)
SF robotics lab; globally distributed collectors.
Honest catches
- Pay here is outside reports, not measured live from a job feed, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a guaranteed rate.
What Scale AI pays
Outside reports · updated 2026-10-29Researched rate card (outside reports), updated 2026-10-29
Outlier's contributor rates are for LLM feedback work, not a robotics wage benchmark. No robotics data role is open on Scale's careers board (October 29, 2026); confirm pay on the specific physical-data project. (checked on outlier.ai, 29 Oct 2026)
| Role | Work type | Researched pay |
|---|---|---|
| Robotics Data Collector | Demonstration Collection | See project terms |
Wondering where a number comes from? Read how researched rate cards are sourced and graded.
Live Scale AI roles
Scale AI does not publish a public job feed.
Applications go through Scale AI's own site, and once you have an account it matches you to work.
Join Scale AI (opens the job details)Some links here are referral links: when you join an employer through one, RobotTraining.jobs may receive a commission. It costs you nothing, and the employer pays you exactly the same.
Get new Demonstration Collection roles by email
Scale AI keeps no public job board for us to read, so we'll send you new Demonstration Collection openings from employers that do, each with its posted pay. No cost, and you can stop any time.
Kinds of work at Scale AI
Open any of them for the day-to-day tasks, every employer hiring for it and market-wide pay.
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What our research records about Scale AI
18 dated facts from public sources (the company itself, filings, regulators, courts and the press), each kept with the publication it comes from in one of our research reports. Newest first; the newest is from 28 Oct 2026.
- Robot data deals4
- Robot data vendors4
- Africa data collection3
- Paid recording programs2
- Simulation and synthetic data2
- Southeast Asia data collection2
- Legal tracker1
Scale AI states that more than 1,000 hours of diverse demonstration data are collected and uploaded to its data platform every day.
Source: Scale AI · In Simulation and synthetic data
Scale AI's Physical AI Data Engine page says more than 1,000 hours of demonstration data are collected and uploaded to its platform every day, from data factories, at-home collectors and in-field commercial deployments, including teleoperated bimanual robots and a robotless egocentric rig (Scale Harness).
Source: Scale AI · In Robot data vendors
Scale AI says more than 1,000 hours of demonstration data are collected and uploaded to its platform every day.
Source: Scale AI · In Paid recording programs
McKinney v. Scale AI: $12.5 million settlement of data labelers' misclassification class action gets preliminary approval.
Source: King & Siegel LLP (law-firm blog) · In Legal tracker
Universal Robots unveiled the UR AI Trainer, developed with Scale AI, which records motion, force and visual data from human-guided robot demonstrations, and said UR and Scale AI will release a large-scale industrial dataset collected on UR robots later in 2026.
Source: Universal Robots · In Robot data deals
Universal Robots unveiled the UR AI Trainer, developed with Scale AI, which pairs UR robots with Scale AI software to capture imitation learning data on robots in production; the two companies said they would release a large industrial dataset collected on UR robots.
Source: Universal Robots · In Robot data vendors
All 18 facts about Scale AI
Tectonic reports that Scale AI's physical AI training data is not synthetic but collected from real-world robots, which Scale says makes it higher fidelity.
Source: Tectonic · In Simulation and synthetic data
Scale AI named Cobot, maker of the Proxie robot, as a customer of its physical AI data engine, and Cobot's CEO Brad Porter said Scale had already done work building a data set for it.
Source: Scale AI · In Robot data deals
Scale AI named Generalist AI as a customer of its robot data collection and annotation service, and Generalist's CEO Pete Florence called Scale a trusted partner for custom data.
Source: Scale AI · In Robot data deals
Scale AI said it is providing and enriching robot training data for Physical Intelligence through its Data Engine for Physical AI, which collects data from dedicated robots and human demonstrations at its San Francisco lab and through contributors worldwide.
Source: Scale AI · In Robot data deals
Scale AI announced the expansion of its Data Engine to physical AI: a combined data collection and annotation service that supplies robotics companies with the datasets they need to train foundation models, extending its earlier autonomous vehicle data work to robotics.
Source: Scale AI · In Robot data vendors
Scale AI said it provides and enriches robotics data for Physical Intelligence, Generalist AI and Cobot, after more than 100,000 production hours completed at its San Francisco prototyping lab with help from contributors worldwide.
Source: Scale AI · In Robot data vendors
Scale AI said it had completed more than 100,000 production hours of physical AI data at its San Francisco prototyping lab, with help from contributors globally.
Source: Scale AI · In Paid recording programs
Scale AI's Remotasks shut down entirely in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan in March 2024, cutting off workers who labelled lidar data without explanation; Scale AI cited enhanced security protocols, Rest of World reported.
Source: Rest of World · In Africa data collection
Former employees told The Washington Post that at least 10,000 people in the Philippines did data labeling on Remotasks, the work platform owned by Scale AI.
Source: The Washington Post (via Stars and Stripes) · In Southeast Asia data collection
Of 36 current and former Remotasks workers in the Philippines interviewed by The Washington Post, all but two said payments had been delayed, reduced or canceled after they finished tasks.
Source: The Washington Post (via Stars and Stripes) · In Southeast Asia data collection
Kenyan annotators on Scale AI's Remotasks told The Verge it paid relatively well when it arrived in Kenya, but pay for those it spoke with had fallen to between US$1 and US$3 an hour by early 2023.
Source: The Verge · In Africa data collection
From 2019 an annotation boot camp in Nairobi took in 50 recruits every two weeks for work its trainees knew as Remotasks, labelling things such as views from robot vacuum cleaners and lidar scans of motorcycles; the boot camps in Kenya were later closed, The Verge reported.
Source: The Verge · In Africa data collection
From the forum
Ask the people doing Scale AI work what only they can tell you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Scale AI legit?
AI data vendor whose Physical AI Data Engine takes in 1000+ hours of robot demonstration data a day.
Does Scale AI pay?
Yes. AI data vendor whose Physical AI Data Engine takes in 1000+ hours of robot demonstration data a day. Payouts: Robotics collection runs through Scale's lab and collection partners; payment terms are not published.
How much does Scale AI pay?
Robotics-project pay not published. Outlier's contributor rates are for LLM feedback work, not a robotics wage benchmark. No robotics data role is open on Scale's careers board (October 29, 2026); confirm pay on the specific physical-data project.
Is Scale AI worth it?
Pay at Scale AI: Robotics-project pay not published. It works best as flexible, project-by-project income, since each project sets its own pay, equipment and eligibility. Worth knowing: Physical robot signup is less exposed than its digital work.
How does Scale AI pay out?
Robotics collection runs through Scale's lab and collection partners; payment terms are not published.
Where is Scale AI open to workers?
SF robotics lab; globally distributed collectors.
Sites like Scale AI
Other employers and programs hiring for Scale AI's kind of work, with today's openings, their pay and who is eligible.
Compare all Scale AI alternativesScale AI versus other employers
Torn between two? Each matchup lines up pay, how hard it is to get in and current openings. Sorted by what an application to either employer is likely worth to you, with a referral lift for an employer that pays us a referral fee; your pay is never affected.
How Scale AI stacks up against similar employers
Remote freelance work for TELUS Digital's AI Community, including a robot teleoperation and wearable-capture role at $32 to $45 an hour, open to applicants in any country.
$32 to $45 an hour on its robot teleoperation role, stated per postingStated by the employer
Wear an Insta360 X5 on your head and film ten-minute stretches of your ordinary day (cooking, cleaning, errands) for an hourly rate set per country.
$40–$120/hr by countryStated by the employer
A European expert network whose robotics program pays remote annotators to describe what robot and human hands do in short video clips.
$5–$15/hr once placedStated by the employer
Wear a headstrap with your phone, press record, and go about your day: paid per accepted hour of first-person video for robot training.
Paid per accepted hour of footageStated by the employerSorted by what an application there is likely worth to you, with a referral lift for employers that pay us a referral fee; your pay is never affected.
Hiring for Scale AI? We find the people (you contract them yourself) or we run the project (we deliver the robot data).