Key findings
- 2
Read from their titles, the largest kinds are general video and photo capture (57 roles, 52.3%) and in-person speech recording (18, 16.5%); no open role teleoperates or operates robots.
- 3
60 of the 109 roles state an hourly rate, with a median of $10 and a middle half of $7 to $15: 60.0% advertise under $15 an hour and 20.0% $30 or more.
- 4
25.7% of these roles must be done at a site (28, at TransPerfect DataForce and Welo Data), while 73.4% are remote, recorded where the contributor lives (median $10 an hour), and 0.9% do not say.
- 5
The roles are open in 165 named countries, most often the United States (30), India (20) and Brazil (17), and 6 are open worldwide without naming one.
- 6
On-site collection is called in a few cities, most often Pune (5), London (4), the San Francisco Bay Area (4) and Hyderabad (3); the 4 session calls that state a fee pay $55 to $170 for 2.5 hours ($22 to $68 an hour).
- 7
On the 16 platforms tracked since 20 Jul 2026, 3.3 new real-world data collection roles were listed a week on average in the four weeks to 11 Oct 2026, against 7.8 a week in the four before (-58.1%).
- 8
On 18 Oct 2026, 4 of the 25 AI labs whose boards were read were hiring robot data collectors directly: Figure AI (8), Skild AI (4), 1X (1) and Physical Intelligence (1); the 3 stating an hourly rate offer $18 to $36.
Figure 1
Who lists real-world data collection work
Which AI training platforms are recruiting people to record the physical world and operate robots?
| Platform | Open roles | Share of all | Median advertised (per hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claru | 40 | 36.7% | $9 |
| TransPerfect DataForce | 37 | 33.9% | n/a |
| micro1 | 11 | 10.1% | $16 |
| RemoExpertsSmall sample | 6 | 5.5% | $105 |
| Welo DataSmall sample | 6 | 5.5% | n/a |
| OneFormaSmall sample | 4 | 3.7% | n/a |
| Perle LabsSmall sample | 2 | 1.8% | n/a |
| AppenSmall sample | 1 | 0.9% | n/a |
| InvisibleSmall sample | 1 | 0.9% | n/a |
| TeracSmall sample | 1 | 0.9% | n/a |
Sample. 109 real-world data collection roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026 on the AI training platforms this site reads, by the platform that lists them; new listings over 20 Sep 2026 to 17 Oct 2026.
A median is shown where at least 5 of the platform's roles state an hourly rate; n/a otherwise.
Listings, not hires: a platform that posts one role per country or language counts each posting.
New listings: roles first seen in the window on a platform already tracked before that week (a platform's first week is its back catalogue).
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 2
What kind of real-world data collection
Are platforms paying people to teleoperate robots, film first-person video, record household tasks, capture motion or record speech in person?
| Kind of collection, read from the title | Open roles | Share | Median advertised (per hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All real-world data collection | 109 | 100.0% | $10 |
| General video and photo capture | 57 | 52.3% | $10 |
| Speech and voice recorded in person | 18 | 16.5% | n/a |
| Household and at-home tasks | 13 | 11.9% | $10 |
| Egocentric (first-person) video | 9 | 8.3% | $98 |
| Motion capture and movementSmall sample | 2 | 1.8% | n/a |
| Other and unspecified collection | 10 | 9.2% | n/a |
Sample. 109 real-world data collection roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026, each counted once.
Each role counts once, in the first kind whose words its title contains, in this order: teleoperation and robot operation (teleoperation, robot operators, pilots, trainers and wranglers, data-collection operators); egocentric (first-person) video (egocentric, first-person, POV, head-mounted, wearable and smart-glasses capture, embodied data); household and at-home tasks (household, at-home and in-home recording, chores and kitchens); motion capture and movement (motion capture, mocap, movement and gesture recording); speech and voice recorded in person (speech, voice and speaker sessions held at a site); general video and photo capture (360-degree, car-mounted, smartphone, exocentric and third-person video, photographs, faces); other and unspecified collection (on-site collection projects and moderators, hardware testing, robotics data roles that name no method).
A role counts as collection when its title operates a robot; records, collects or captures (in the robotics and physical-AI data kind of work, or naming a camera medium in any other kind); or holds speech or other collection sessions in person. Roles that label, review, transcribe or edit recorded data, and work on screens, files, documents or cards, are never counted. Speech recorded at home is speech data, not real-world collection.
Medians need at least 5 roles stating an hourly rate; a kind with fewer open roles than that is marked thin.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 3
On-site or remote
Does real-world data collection have to be done at a site, or where the contributor lives?
| Work arrangement | Open roles | Share | Median advertised (per hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-site or hybrid (at a studio, lab or session site) | 28 | 25.7% | n/a |
| Remote (recorded where the contributor lives) | 80 | 73.4% | $10 |
| Not stated | 1 | 0.9% | n/a |
Sample. 109 real-world data collection roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026.
On-site or hybrid: the title or location names a site ('Onsite', 'In-person', 'Hybrid'), a job board with a workplace field (Lever, Ashby, Mercor's own board) marks the role not remote, or the title calls speakers to a place ('Speakers Needed in Pune'), as in the on-site report.
Remote collection is recorded wherever the contributor is (their home, street or car), not at a site the platform runs; it is not desk work.
Not stated: neither the title, the location nor a workplace field says.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 4
Where the collection work is, by country
In which countries are platforms recruiting people to collect real-world data?
| Country | Open roles | On-site there | Median advertised (per hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 30 | 8 | $15 |
| India | 20 | 8 | $5 |
| Brazil | 17 | 0 | $7 |
| Mexico | 17 | 0 | $7 |
| Colombia | 16 | 0 | $7 |
| Argentina | 15 | 0 | $7 |
| Canada | 15 | 0 | $10 |
| Chile | 15 | 0 | $7 |
| Peru | 14 | 0 | $7 |
| Indonesia | 12 | 0 | $5 |
| Vietnam | 11 | 0 | $5 |
| Philippines | 10 | 0 | $5 |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 4 | $95 |
| United Arab Emirates | 6 | 0 | n/a |
| Spain | 6 | 2 | n/a |
| France | 6 | 2 | n/a |
| Kuwait | 6 | 0 | n/a |
| Oman | 6 | 0 | n/a |
| Jordan | 5 | 0 | n/a |
| Saudi Arabia | 5 | 0 | n/a |
| Tรผrkiye | 5 | 0 | n/a |
| South Africa | 5 | 0 | n/a |
| Costa Rica | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Dominican Republic | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Egypt | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Italy | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Malaysia | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Norway | 4 | 2 | n/a |
| Panama | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Poland | 4 | 0 | n/a |
| Open worldwide (no country named) | 6 | 0 | n/a |
Sample. 109 real-world data collection roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026; 165 countries named, the 30 named by the most roles shown.
A role counts in every country it is open to: the country list its job board publishes, else the countries its location or title names (a site, 'Remote - Japan', '(US-based)'). A role open in several countries counts once in each, so the rows add up to more than the roles.
Open worldwide: the board says anyone may apply and the posting names no country.
A median is shown where at least 5 of the country's roles state an hourly rate.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 5
Cities where collection work is located
Which cities have real-world data collection roles, and what do they pay?
| City or metro area | Country | Open roles | Median advertised (per hour) | Session fee stated in the title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pune | India | 5 | n/a | $55 for 2.5 hours ($22 an hour) |
| London | United Kingdom | 4 | n/a | $170 for 2.5 hours ($68 an hour) |
| San Francisco Bay Area | United States | 4 | n/a | n/a |
| Hyderabad | India | 3 | n/a | $55 for 2.5 hours ($22 an hour) |
| Barcelona | Spain | 3 | n/a | n/a |
| Singapore | Singapore | 3 | n/a | n/a |
| Amman | Jordan | 3 | n/a | n/a |
| Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 3 | n/a | n/a |
| Bergen | Norway | 2 | n/a | n/a |
| Paris | France | 2 | n/a | $160 for 2.5 hours ($64 an hour) |
| Atlanta | United States | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Los Angeles | United States | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| San Diego | United States | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Seattle area | United States | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Bangkok | Thailand | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Ciudad de Mexico | Mexico | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Helsinki | Finland | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Istanbul | Tรผrkiye | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Pretoria | South Africa | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Rome | Italy | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Tokyo | Japan | 1 | n/a | n/a |
Sample. 42 of the 109 real-world data collection roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026 name a city in their location; the 25 cities named most.
Read from the location the posting publishes, with the on-site report's reader: cities of one metropolitan area are merged (Sunnyvale and San Francisco count as the San Francisco Bay Area). A role open at several sites counts once in each city.
A median is shown where at least 5 of the city's roles state an hourly rate. Some in-person session calls state a fee for a few hours in the title instead of an hourly rate; it is shown with its hourly equivalent (the fee over the hours stated) and is not in the medians.
A city named only in the title (some session calls leave the location empty) is not placed here; its country still counts in the country figure when the board lists it.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 6
What real-world data collection advertises per hour
How much do platforms advertise per hour to people who record data or operate robots?
| Advertised hourly rate | Roles | Share of roles stating a rate |
|---|---|---|
| Under $10 | 23 | 38.3% |
| $10 to $14.99 | 13 | 21.7% |
| $15 to $19.99 | 12 | 20.0% |
| $20 to $29.99 | 0 | 0.0% |
| $30 to $49.99 | 4 | 6.7% |
| $50 and more | 8 | 13.3% |
Sample. 60 of the 109 real-world data collection roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026 state an hourly rate (median $10, middle half $7 to $15).
Advertised pay: the hourly figure a posting states, the middle of a stated range. A fee per session, per video or per project is not counted here; session fees stated in titles are shown in the cities figure.
Platforms often set a recording role's rate per country or region, so a band reflects where roles are open as well as the work.
5 of these roles advertise more than $100 an hour (Paid Photo Contributor Opportunity (Siblings), Australia Egocentric Video Data Collector: Insta360 X5 REQUIRED and New Zealand Egocentric Video Data Collector: Insta360 X5 REQUIRED); the figure is kept as published, and it does not move the median.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 7
New real-world data collection listings, week by week
Are platforms listing more real-world data collection work, or less?
| Week | New listings (fixed panel) | New listings (all tracked platforms) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 to 26 Jul | 11 | 11 |
| 27 Jul to 2 Aug | 8 | 8 |
| 3 to 9 Aug | 8 | 8 |
| 10 to 16 Aug | 9 | 9 |
| 17 to 23 Aug | 4 | 4 |
| 24 to 30 Aug | 0 | 0 |
| 31 Aug to 6 Sep | 13 | 13 |
| 7 to 13 Sep | 14 | 28 |
| 14 to 20 Sep | 5 | 8 |
| 21 to 27 Sep | 2 | 8 |
| 28 Sep to 4 Oct | 5 | 5 |
| 5 to 11 Oct | 1 | 2 |
Sample. Real-world data collection roles first listed in each ISO week (Monday to Sunday, UTC), 20 Jul 2026 to 11 Oct 2026. The fixed panel is the 16 platforms tracked since 20 Jul 2026.
Like for like: platforms first tracked later are counted only in the all-platforms columns, so their arrival never reads as more collection work. Each platform's first week (its back catalogue) never counts as new listings.
The same title rules as the rest of the report, applied to every role listed in the span.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 8
AI labs hiring robot data collectors directly
Which robotics and AI labs recruit their own robot pilots, operators and data creators instead of going through a vendor?
| Lab | Robot data-collection roles | Where | Stated pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure AI | San Jose, CA; Ciudad de Mรฉxico; Sรฃo Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City | Not stated | |
| Skild AI | San Mateo; Bengaluru, India; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | $25 to $30 an hour; $18 to $20 an hour | |
| 1X | San Carlos, CA | $28 to $36 an hour | |
| Physical Intelligence | San Francisco | Not stated |
Sample. The public job boards of 25 AI labs read on 18 Oct 2026; labs with at least one robot data-collection role open.
A role counts when the AI labs hiring report classifies it as robot data collection: its title names a data-collection operator, teleoperation, a robot pilot or data creators. Robot operators whose title does not say they collect data are not counted, so this is a floor.
Stated pay is the range the posting publishes, as an hourly rate or a yearly salary; 'Not stated' where none is published.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 9
Every robot data-collection role open on the labs' own boards
Which roles exactly, where, and at what stated pay?
Sample. The 14 robot data-collection roles open on 18 Oct 2026, each linked to its posting on the lab's own board.
The posted date is the board's first-published date, or its last update where that is all the board gives.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
Figure 10
What is counted, against the kinds of work
How does this count relate to the robotics and physical-AI data kind of work, and to other kinds?
| Roles | Counted here | Open roles | Median advertised (per hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robotics & Physical-AI Data: recording, collecting or operating | Yes | 57 | $10 |
| Robotics & Physical-AI Data: labelling, editing or other work that records nothing | No | 8 | $18 |
| Data Annotation & Labeling: recording or collecting in the physical world | Yes | 15 | n/a |
| Research Studies & Surveys: recording or collecting in the physical world | Yes | 13 | n/a |
| Transcription, Audio & Speech: recording or collecting in the physical world | Yes | 12 | n/a |
| Multilingual & Localization: recording or collecting in the physical world | Yes | 12 | n/a |
| All real-world data collection (this report) | Yes | 109 | $10 |
Sample. Roles open at the end of 17 Oct 2026.
The robotics and physical-AI data kind of work also holds roles that label, review or edit recorded robot, driving and egocentric footage, and expert roles whose title records nothing; they are physical-AI data work but not collection, so they are left out and shown here for comparison.
Recording roles in other kinds of work (a video collector listed under data labelling, an in-person speech session under audio) are counted by their titles.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Real-World Data Collection Work, live data.
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The figures above are a summary. Behind them are records we collect ourselves, every day:
9,572 roles tracked, each with its history
Every role on 29 job boards, read daily since 13 Jul 2026: its pay and place, and the first and last day it was open.
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Method and definitions
The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every day (each open role's title, location, workplace field, country list and advertised pay), and the public job boards of AI labs with a documented board API, read on the day the report is computed. Every figure is computed by one database query over the window shown, the same query for the live report and for every edition. Each figure states its sample beneath it.
- Real-world data collection role
- An open role whose title records, collects or operates in the physical world: it teleoperates or operates a robot; it records, collects or captures data and is listed in the robotics and physical-AI data kind of work, or names a camera medium (video, photos, faces, 360-degree, egocentric, motion) in any other kind; or it holds speech or other collection sessions in person. A title that labels, reviews, evaluates, transcribes or edits recorded data, or works on screens, software, files, documents or cards, never counts. Speech recorded at home is speech data and is not counted.
- Kind of collection
- Read from the title, the first match in this order: teleoperation and robot operation; egocentric (first-person) video; household and at-home tasks; motion capture and movement; speech and voice recorded in person; general video and photo capture (360-degree, car-mounted, smartphone, exocentric and third-person video, photographs, faces); other and unspecified collection.
- On-site or hybrid
- The title or location names a site ('Onsite', 'In-person', 'Hybrid'), a job board that publishes a workplace field (Lever, Ashby, Mercor's board) marks the role not remote, or the title calls speakers to a place ('Speakers Needed in Pune'). Remote: the title, location or board says remote; for collection work this usually means recorded in the contributor's own home, street or car.
- Where a role is open
- The country list its job board publishes, else the countries its location or title names; a role open in several countries counts in each. Cities come from the location text, with the cities of one metropolitan area merged.
- Advertised pay
- The hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range). A median is published where at least 5 roles state a rate.
- Session fee
- A fee for one in-person session stated in the title ('$170 USD for 2,5 hours'), shown with its hourly equivalent (the fee over the hours). Fees are not mixed into the hourly medians.
- Fixed panel
- The platforms already tracked when the 12-week span opened (or by the end of its first week): new listings are counted on them so a platform added later never reads as growth. A platform's first week is its back catalogue and is never counted as new listings.
- Lab robot data-collection role
- A role on an AI lab's own job board that the AI labs hiring report classifies as robot data collection: its title names a data-collection operator, teleoperation, a robot pilot or data creators. Each is linked to its posting.
- Open role
- A role listed by a given day and still in its platform's feed that day.
What this data cannot tell you
- Roles are read from their titles: a collection role whose title names no capture, robot or session is missed, and a title can describe the work loosely. Every rule is published and tested on real titles.
- Platforms that recruit collection contributors without a public job board, and AI labs and robotics companies without a documented board API, are not counted.
- The labs' figure counts only titles that say they collect data; some labs' generic robot-operator roles collect data by teleoperation according to their descriptions but are not counted, so it is a floor.
- Listings are not hires: a platform posting one role per country or language counts each posting, and a role open in many countries counts in each country.
- Pay is what postings advertise, not what contributors earn; in-person session calls often state a fee rather than an hourly rate, and a posting can state a figure above $100 an hour that reads like a one-off fee (kept as published; medians are not moved by it).
- The labs' boards are read on the day the report is computed, so a monthly edition shows the labs' roles open when it was frozen, not over the month.
How the job feeds are read and roles are classified: site methodology. How fresh, complete and consistent the data is, checked every day: data quality and coverage.
Editions
The live report covers the last 28 complete days and changes every day. Each complete month is also published as an edition, frozen two days after the month ends, so a figure you cite from an edition never moves.
- Live dataLast 28 complete days, recomputed daily
Cite and reuse
Free to quote, chart and republish under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. Live figures change daily: cite a monthly edition for numbers that will read the same later, or keep the access date.
Citation
AITraining.jobs (2026). Real-World Data Collection Work (live data, 20 Sep 2026 to 17 Oct 2026). https://www.aitraining.team/research/real-world-data-collection-work (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
BibTeX
@misc{aitrainingjobs_real_world_data_collection_work_live,
author = {{AITraining.jobs}},
title = {Real-World Data Collection Work (live data, 20 Sep 2026 to 17 Oct 2026)},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://www.aitraining.team/research/real-world-data-collection-work}},
note = {Accessed 18 Oct 2026},
}More research
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