Samasource
Data annotation solutions (image, video, 3D point cloud data), Generative AI, computer vision, data automation platform with Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)
Quick facts
- Company
- Samasource
- Service type
- Data annotation / AI training data
- Specialties
- Image, Text, Healthcare, Agriculture, STEM
- Hiring status
- Both: hires workers and takes vendor projects
- Website
- samasource.org
- Careers
- https://www.sama.com/ai101
- Profile last verified
- 2026-01-29
Application process overview
Samasource, now operating as Sama, is a San Francisco-based company with delivery centers in Kenya, Uganda, and India that provides human-in-the-loop data annotation for computer vision and generative AI. It is known for its social-enterprise model focused on providing formal employment in low-income communities.
Key findings
Application Process: Sama hires annotators as salaried employees at its physical delivery centers via sama.com/careers; it is not an open remote gig platform.<br><br>Assessments: In-person interviews plus structured training programs; new hires go through weeks of onboarding before production work.<br><br>Job Types / Expertise: Image/video annotation, LiDAR labeling, content moderation, and RLHF-style tasks for generative AI; expertise is built in-house through training.<br><br>Compensation: Above-local-minimum salaries with benefits; Sama publicly emphasizes living wages, though content-moderation pay has drawn criticism in media coverage.<br><br>Flexibility: On-site, shift-based work at regional hubs — not a flexible remote option for individuals outside those regions.<br><br>Challenges / Concerns: High-profile reporting (Time, 2023) on low pay and psychological harm for content moderators working on Meta and OpenAI projects; ongoing litigation in Kenya.<br><br>Legitimacy: Highly legitimate and well-documented; named clients include OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, GM, and Walmart.
Conclusion
Samasource/Sama is a major, legitimate force in the annotation industry with a stated social mission and serious enterprise credentials. Its model of formal employment in East Africa and South Asia sets it apart, but the same centers have been at the heart of public controversy over pay and moderator welfare. For individuals outside its hub cities it is not a job option; for the industry, it is a company worth understanding as both benchmark and cautionary tale. Overall, reputable but with notable ethical scrutiny.