Handshake AI training work was supposed to help cover a year of college expenses, Joel Thomas says. Now he says Handshake AI owes him about $11,000 for hundreds of hours of work, after the platform rejected his payment appeals.
The college student thought the dashboard total reflected money he would receive, and says he expected roughly $19,000 based on the earnings shown on his account. He says the company ultimately paid him $8,000. A pay statement showed 428 tasks completed for Project Novel between August 17 and August 23, but the statement listed no pay for them.
How Handshake AI Calculated Contractor Pay
Handshake invited Thomas in August to work on one project paying $50 an hour and another paying $65 per task. He says his dashboard earnings topped $19,000 as he logged hours. He also saved a screenshot showing $15,741.23 marked as awaiting payout.
The Handshake AI dashboard figures were estimates based on time contractors manually logged, according to the report. Business Insider said Handshake separately compared those hours with a client timer contractors could not see. Former employees and contractors told the outlet that Handshake did not explain what counted as billable time or how the client calculated it.
Handshake told Business Insider that final pay reflects work its systems verify. The company said it may withhold pay when logged time does not match recorded work, and that reviewers may reject tasks that fail review. A spokesperson said contractors can ask a dedicated team independent of the project to review a payment dispute, and that the team can restore some or all of the disputed amount.
Contractors Describe Wider Payment Disputes
Thomas is among nearly two dozen current and former contractors who told Business Insider they were underpaid by hundreds or thousands of dollars this year. Those contractors said their disputes over the past six months totaled $64,000. Business Insider said it reviewed bank statements, pay stubs, and hundreds of emails and Slack messages between workers and the company.
Former staffers and contractors cited differences between the way Handshake and its clients tracked time and pay. Former employees also described confusing or contradictory task instructions and project managers who lacked time to answer workers’ questions. They said a single manager on some large projects could oversee up to 1,000 contractors.
Handshake said more than 188,000 contractors have earned over $500 million on AI training projects through its platform. The company introduced a payments dashboard, more explanations for adjustments, and a simpler dispute process in October. It also said it was rolling out a live timer for work completed on third-party platforms.
Handshake’s AI Business and Its Pay Changes
Handshake started as a career platform connecting students with internships, entry-level jobs, career fairs, employers, and alumni. The company expanded into AI training in January 2025, using its student and young-alumni network to help technology companies train and evaluate models. Chief executive Garrett Lord said in August that the AI unit had grown to more than $1 billion in gross annualized revenue.
Handshake has promoted transparent pay as an advantage. In an October blog post, it said workers should know what they earned, how it was calculated, and when it would arrive. The company declined to discuss Thomas’s individual case, while saying it takes disputes seriously.
Handshake told Thomas it found no verified work that week, though his pay statement listed hundreds of completed tasks with no payment. He has given up on receiving more money, Business Insider reported. Contractors who dispute a decision can use the company’s new dashboard and review process.
Related reporting has examined Meta’s AI work tools, funding for faculty startups, and oversight of small-business research. Each examines how organizations manage technology or business programs.
Business Insider’s report on Handshake payment disputes describes Thomas’s appeal and the company’s explanation of its verification process.