A college student thought he'd struck gold training AI. Then he says he got burned.

Joel Thomas, a college student, believed he had found lucrative opportunities training AI through Handshake AI, a startup that offered high-paying jobs to university students. Handshake advertised AI training work paying $50 an hour or more, which would have covered Thomas' college expenses for a year. However, he claims he is owed about $11,000 in unpaid wages for hundreds of hours of work he completed on Handshake's platform.

Handshake denied his appeal, stating there was no record of his work on one project during a specific week.

Thomas is not the only one affected. Nearly two dozen current and former contractors have reported being underpaid by hundreds or thousands of dollars each by Handshake. The total disputes from these contractors over the past six months amounted to $64,000. Handshake, which has hosted over 188,000 contractors earning over $500 million for AI training projects, stands accused of underpaying its workforce.

The underpayment cases at Handshake arose due to discrepancies in time and pay tracking, insufficient full-time staff, and pressure to deliver training data quickly. Project managers often lacked the time to address contractors' questions and concerns, leading to confusion and payment disputes. Contractors were also subject to review, and if they did not understand the instructions or the task failed the review, they did not receive payment.

Handshake claims to have introduced changes to improve pay transparency, including a new payments dashboard, clearer explanations for adjustments, and an easier dispute process. However, Thomas and other contractors remain dissatisfied, emphasizing the need for competitive pay and clear expectations.