Scale AI’s Gig Worker Circus: $14B Tech Giant, Zero Sick Days?
San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement is playing labor-law detective with Scale AI, that out-of-nowhere $14 billion Meta-backed startup from 2025. Scale relies on a sprawling network of strangers labeled 'contractors,' 'taskers,' and 'freelancers'—because who needs full-time employees when you can parcel out human labor like Amazon packages? The city's probing alleged shenanigans like dodging sick leave, minimum wage, and overtime pay, referencing a now-deleted Reddit post from a compliance officer fishing for whistleblowers among platforms like Outlier AI, Smart Ecosystem, HireArt, and even Upwork (which claims innocence). Scale says it’s 'overwhelmingly positive' and fully compliant, just like any startup caught mid-investigation. Fun bonus: Scale’s last labor scrutiny by the federal Department of Labor got canned this summer, because what says innocence like repeated investigations?
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Meta just funneled $14 billion into Scale AI, who calls its workers 'contractors' so it doesn't have to pay overtime or sick leave. Meanwhile, San Francisco is digging into the startup’s labor circus. Plot twist: Scale’s PR insists everyone’s 'overwhelmingly positive.' Sure, Jan.
If gig workers were comedians, Scale AI’s labor practices are their punchline: 'We pay fairly and follow the law,' said the company under investigation.
Meta’s $14B bet on Scale AI is basically throwing good money at a digital sweatshop wrapped in contractor buzzwords. San Francisco’s just showing up like, 'Hold my minimum wage compliance paperwork.'
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 9/10/2025 | Author: Charles Rollet
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