Shift Launches Free Home Cleaning Service in New York City to Gather AI Training Data

Shift, an AI training startup, introduced a free home cleaning service in New York City where cleaners wear cameras to capture first-person video of household chores. The footage is intended for use in training robots and AI systems to perform similar tasks.

The company stated that it anonymizes or blurs sensitive information, including faces, screens, documents, and names, before using the recordings for AI development. Shift reported that the service received thousands of booking requests shortly after its launch in the city.

Shift’s approach combines data collection with a consumer service, integrating the process of cleaning and video recording in a single visit rather than as separate activities. The company explained that the economic value of real-world, first-person footage from household tasks is sufficient to offset the cost of providing free cleaning services.

Shift is a subsidiary of Microagi, a Germany-based organization that manages anonymized data collection in multiple countries and supplies this data to AI research laboratories. The company has previously paid thousands of individuals to record everyday activities for the purpose of AI training and currently operates in over 15 countries.

What the numbers show

• Shift operates in more than 15 countries worldwide
• Thousands of people have been paid by Shift to record activities for AI training
• Demand for the free cleaning service in New York City reached thousands of bookings within hours

The footage collected by Shift is used to train humanoid robots and embodied AI systems to perform domestic chores autonomously. According to statements from the company, the integration of cleaning and data collection is central to its service model.

Shift announced plans to expand the free cleaning and data-collection initiative to additional cities, including San Francisco, London, Zurich, and Munich. The company indicated that its model is designed to scale beyond New York City, with similar procedures for anonymizing personal information in all locations.

Shift’s parent company, Microagi, already manages anonymized data collection in several countries and supplies this information to AI laboratories. The company’s business model relies on the value of real-world video data to support the cost of offering consumer services such as home cleaning.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.