SHIFT OFFERS FREE CLEANING TO TRAIN ROBOTS

Shift's cleaners will wear a "magic hat" equipped with a camera that captures their work in homes throughout NYC. The startup plans to use this footage to train robots capable of performing household cleaning tasks. The free service model allows Shift to gather training data while offering residents complimentary cleaning. This approach addresses a key challenge in robotics development: obtaining large volumes of annotated video showing how humans perform specific tasks. The initiative reflects a growing trend of tech companies using real-world services to collect AI training data. By recording cleaners in actual home environments, Shift gains diverse footage showing different layouts, furniture arrangements, and cleaning scenarios. Separately, Amazon unveiled its next-generation Proteus warehouse robot, which adds AI-powered language capabilities allowing workers to assign tasks verbally. The company plans to roll out Proteus in European warehouses in the first half of 2027. Amazon maintains that such robots are designed to support workers rather than replace them.