Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta probed by lawmakers on use of AI ‘ghost’ staff

Democratic lawmakers are pressing the top tech firms to open up about the conditions of their “ghost work” — unseen laborers like those labeling data and rating responses who have become pivotal to the artificial intelligence boom.

“Despite the essential nature of this work, millions of data workers around the world perform these stressful tasks under constant surveillance, with low wages and no benefits,” a group of lawmakers led by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal wrote Wednesday in a letter to the chief executives of nine companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp, and International Business Machines Corp.