Amid the nervousness about whether AI will replace human workers, one company has been aggressively seeking professionals. The San Francisco startup, Mercor, isn’t hiring experts to perform their jobs; it’s paying them an hourly rate to teach their daily routines to AI agents. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, reporter Tom Foster takes host Sarah Holder into the world of Mercor — why professionals are signing up to train the AI that could take over parts of their jobs and how the company’s founders want to remake white-collar work.

Read more: 
The $10 Billion Startup Training AI to Replace the White-Collar Workforce
Amazon to Sell OpenAI Tech After Microsoft Cedes Exclusivity

We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Tom Foster; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

Amid the nervousness about whether AI will replace human workers, one company has been aggressively seeking professionals. The San Francisco startup, Mercor, isn&rsquo;t hiring experts to perform their jobs; it&rsquo;s paying them an hourly rate to teach their daily routines to AI agents.&nbsp;
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, reporter Tom Foster takes host Sarah Holder into the world of Mercor &mdash; why professionals are signing up to train the AI that could take over parts of their jobs and how the company&rsquo;s founders want to remake white-collar work.
Read more:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-04-16/ai-company-hiring-on-linkedin-wants-to-train-your-replacement-at-work">The $10 Billion Startup Training AI to Replace the White-Collar Workforce</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-28/amazon-set-to-sell-openai-tech-after-microsoft-cedes-exclusivity?srnd=phx-technology">Amazon to Sell OpenAI Tech After Microsoft Cedes Exclusivity</a></li>
</ul>
We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/podcasts"> Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.</a>
Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Tom Foster; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate and Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

Big Take

The $10 Billion Startup Training AI to Do Your Job

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5e6c2e40-a4e4-4284-a30a-b43b015114c7/transcript