Amazon pulls the plug on Mechanical Turk: the end of 'artificial artificial intelligence'

Amazon is closing the doors of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), the well-known platform for small digital gigs, on September 30, 2026. That brings a 21-year run to an end for the service that founder Jeff Bezos once described as "artificial artificial intelligence." The platform connected companies with remote workers for tasks that were once too complex for computers but simple for humans.

MTurk launched in 2005 and took its name from an 18th-century chess-playing automaton that was in reality operated by a human chess grandmaster. Amazon initially used the system to categorize the huge volumes of product data in its own online store. The marketplace quickly grew into a global platform where so-called "turkers" labeled data, transcribed audio, or filled out surveys, often for fees of just a few cents per task.

Competition and the rise of AI

At its peak, more than 500,000 freelancers used the platform. In recent years, however, MTurk fell into decline. The rapid evolution of generative AI models fundamentally changed the field. At the same time, specialized data startups such as Scale AI, Mercor, and Prolific entered the market, focusing specifically on recruiting people to train AI systems.

MTurk also ran into quality problems. A 2023 Swiss academic study found that as many as 46 percent of MTurk workers were themselves using AI models to complete their tasks faster. As Amazon invested less and less in the platform, many clients and workers switched to competitors. Last month, Amazon already stopped onboarding new customers, a clear sign of the impending shutdown.

Impact on the gig economy

The disappearance of Mechanical Turk affects a group of digital workers who relied on the platform for income or as a supplement to it. Advocacy group Turkopticon emphasizes that MTurk offered many people with limited access to the labor market a flexible, remote source of income. Companies that still relied on the platform's services will need to find alternative solutions before the end of September.