AI training startup Shift offers free home cleaning in exchange for video footage to train robots

Shift announced on Thursday that it will clean homes for free, recording cleaners as they work to generate training data for robots. The company says the value of this footage is sufficient to fund the service.

Cleaners wear a camera-equipped hat that captures footage from their point of view. Shift says it blurs and anonymizes sensitive details like names, faces, and personal information before using the footage for AI training; cleaners are not Shift employees but are vetted by the company's partners.

The service is initially available only in New York, though Shift's co-CEO Bercan Kilic says it will be available 'very soon' in San Francisco, London, Zurich, and Munich. The free cleanings are available for a 'limited time.' Shift already pays tens of thousands of people across 15 countries to record their activities through its app.

Shift plans to expand beyond cleaning into areas like plumbing, cooking, and building.