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Doctors, lawyers, investment bankers and journalists are moonlighting as AI trainers. Are they securing their spot in the AI-fueled future or signing their death sentence? That depends on who you ask.
Mercor, a gig-work platform that provides top white-collar talent to AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, has tens of thousands of such experts. According to a Bloomberg report, Mercor pays out more than $2 million per day to contractors, but some have called out an intrusive level of surveillance and being “treated like cattle (1).”
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Some are hailing AI training as the hot new version of gig work, yet others have called it a “scheme to misclassify workers (2).” The very nature of contractor work is independent, meaning employers cannot tell individuals when to work and how that work gets done. Yet there are open cases regarding Mercor exercising the kind of control associated with an employer.
Ironically, the founders, who are in their early 20s, have never had traditional corporate jobs.
The 22-year-old founders who hail from the Bay Area are Thiel Fellows — members of the billionaire investor Peter Thiel’s program that provides $200,000 grants to young people who are skipping or quitting college (3). And they have become the youngest self-made billionaires. CEO Brendan Foody, CTO Adarsh Hiremath and board chairman Surya Midha each have a roughly 22% stake in the company, Forbes estimates (4).
“It’s definitely crazy,” Foody told Forbes. “It feels very surreal. Obviously beyond our wildest imaginations, insofar as anything that we could have anticipated two years ago.”
Mercor did not immediately respond to Moneywise’s request for comment.
Who really benefits from training AI?
Sundeep Peechu, managing partner at the VC firm Felicis Ventures, which led Mercor’s most recent funding rounds, commented on the category in the Bloomberg article.
He said the first era of data was from the internet, but for AI to become truly economically useful, humans must train the model on how they actually do the work.
This leaves everyday Americans at odds.
On the one hand, experts are anticipating the collapse of the professional class. A quick look at Mercor’s website reveals a writing expert role going for $75 to $150 per hour (5) — which is more lucrative than many corporate or editorial projects out there. No one can be blamed for jumping ship.
Yet on the other hand, there’s a growing dialogue around AI malaise (6), particularly surrounding environmental and economic displacement concerns. It’s dehumanizing to mentor AI models on a 10-, 20-, 30- or 40-year body of work, knowing you’re feeding the very thing that will bite you later.
Read More: Robert Kiyosaki warned of a ‘Greater Depression’ — with millions of Americans going poor. Was he right?
Worried about AI layoffs? Prepare your finances now
The pace of AI-driven job cuts is picking up fast — and it’s no longer just a future concern.
In 2025 alone, companies cited AI as the reason behind 55,000 layoffs, a figure that’s ballooned to nearly 12 times what it was just two years earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. (7). Another 12,000 AI-linked cuts have already been announced in 2026.
With job security getting less predictable each day, preparing your finances now is crucial. Having an emergency fund in place to manage an unexpected job loss, and buy yourself time to reskill or reorient, could make or break the pace of your paychecks.
Create a rainy day fund
A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.
A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base APY of 3.30% through program banks, and new clients can get an extra 0.75% boost during their first three months on up to $150,000 for a total variable APY of 4.05%.
That’s ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s March report.
Additionally, Wealthfront is offering new clients who enable direct deposit ($1,000/mo minimum) to their Cash Account and open and fund a new investment account an additional 0.25% APY increase with no expiration date or balance limit, meaning your APY could be as high as 4.30%.
With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, you get access to up to $8M FDIC Insurance eligibility through program banks.
Cut down on non-negotiable expenses
If you’re struggling to build out your emergency fund, the first place to look for answers is in your monthly bills.
Fixed costs can quietly eat into your budget, especially when times get uncertain. Insurance premiums — which have been rising at a rapid pace over the past few years — can be a good place to start. Rates vary widely between providers, so taking the time to compare options could lower your monthly burden without sacrificing coverage.
OfficialHomeInsurance lets you compare rates and features on home insurance policies from top providers near you.
Here’s how it works: Answer a few basic questions about yourself and your home, and OfficialHomeInsurance will comb through its database of over 200 insurers to display the lowest rates available. On average, you could save $482 per year by comparing rates.
The best part? This process is entirely free, and it takes just two minutes.
But that doesn’t mean you have to accept the first quote you receive. Just a few minutes of comparison shopping could help bring those rising monthly costs back down. You may also want to look at much more than just your home insurance costs.
In fact, you could save an average of $1,100 annually by using a comparison platform like Insurify, which lets you instantly view quotes from top-rated providers and choose the best rate available.
Just answer a few basic questions, and Insurify will show you the most affordable deals in as little as three minutes.
Not only is the process 100% free, but you could also save up to 15% by bundling your car and home insurance so you can drive down the cost of multiple monthly line items in one pass.
Don’t rely on your paycheck alone
Relying on a single paycheck can be a gamble in a job market that’s shifting this quickly. One way to cushion that risk is by putting part of your portfolio into investments that generate steady, recurring income. A bit of passive money in your pocket could help keep you going if AI tidings turn into a tidal wave.
Real estate has long been a go-to for passive income, but traditional ownership comes with added headaches of maintenance, tenants, and unexpected costs.
The good news? You don’t need to take on a mortgage or scrape together a hefty down payment to get exposure anymore.
Platforms like Arrived allow you to invest in shares of vacation and rental properties across the country with as little as $100.
To get started, simply browse through their selection of vetted properties, each picked for their potential appreciation and income generation.
Arrived distributes any rental income generated by properties to investors monthly, allowing you to potentially set up a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own rental property.
The best part? For a limited time, when you open an account and add $1,000 or more, Arrived will credit your account with a 1% match.
— With files from Amanda Smith
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Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Bloomberg(1); Business Insider(2); Thiel Fellowship(3); Forbes(4); Mercor(5); Pew Research Center(6); Challenger, Gray & Christmas (7)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
