Investigation: embodied-data subcontracting cuts labeler pay to 8 yuan an hour

On November 11, 2026, the Science and Technology Innovation Daily (科创板日报) published an investigation, distributed through East Money (东方财富), into the resale chain behind embodied AI data collection. Its reporters spent several days speaking with frontline collectors, data suppliers, buyers, and county-level collection service providers. One collector, Xiaoyun, picked up tasks through a part-time job group and repeatedly filmed first-person clips of everyday actions at home, such as folding and shaking out a jacket, earning an hourly rate of 15 yuan. After intermediaries packaged and resold her recordings, the same hour of data was quoted to robotics companies at up to 300–500 yuan per hour. Top-quality real-device data was listed at up to 1,000 yuan, while raw monocular footage at the end of the resale chain sold for as little as 5 yuan. The newspaper attributed this spread partly to differences in data quality and processing depth, but also to multi-layer subcontracting and the resale of duplicated datasets. In some projects, hourly pay for frontline collectors fell to around 8 yuan. The investigation also noted that several embodied AI data collection service providers have reached valuations in the billions of yuan, while the industry argues that high-quality data is scarce. At the same time, cheap duplicates circulate widely, orders are re-subcontracted through multiple layers, traceability breaks down, and questions have been raised about the authenticity of some orders. As of the report's publication, the article presents the findings of the journalists' inquiries; no company named in the piece had publicly responded to the subcontracting and resale practices described, and no regulator had announced any follow-up action.