MicroAGI, the German startup behind this proposal, is responsible for this unusual business proposal by inviting New Yorkers to sign up on the task-recording platform Shift. On the site, dirty customers can view a 3D tag cloud of tasks the cleaners can tackle. Of course, the classics like vacuuming, dusting and dishwashing are on offer. But if you want to reorganize your fridge, pantry, or even your entire closet, apparently they’ll do that too.
Announced alongside a recent post on X, Shift’s introductory video attempts to explain how one’s free cleaning service can go down. The video begins with a plucky young boy knocking on an apartment door, ready to give some elbow grease. The company’s US GM, Harry Kilberg, is then seen expressing Shift’s mad love for the 5 boroughs, saying “The future has always started in New York. This time, it will start in your apartment.” We then see the famous “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” photo, while the instrumental track from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ 2009 “Empire State of Mind” plays in the background. There’s no longer any doubt whether this tech company is paired with real New Yorkers.
On its site, Shift attempts to reassure dataset providers of its future with a robust FAQ. The company promises that all names, faces and other sensitive data captured on camera will automatically be anonymized. They further explain that they “blur all personally identifiable information, from screens and ID cards to pieces of paper and cell phones, to help protect both you and your home.” There doesn’t seem to be anything in Shift’s FAQ about how someone can later request removal from the training dataset after recording and uploading the video of their session.
The company, which says it’s already paying thousands of people around the world to record themselves performing repetitive physical labor, says that before you qualify for your free cleaning no space is too dirty and that “cleaners may decline any specific tasks they are not comfortable doing.” Shift’s terms of service say that the company is not responsible for any theft, personal injury, or property damage that occurs during cleaning, but don’t worry. The “independent cleaning professionals” you are inviting into your home have been “vetted” [their] Partners,” so this should probably clear up any remaining concerns.
Shift says the data collected by recording all these small tasks will be used to train the “next generation of home robots.” That future certainly sounds good and is something we would all have access to.
MicroAGI founder and CEO, Barkan Kilic, posted on LinkedIn that Shift will be launching in London, Munich, and Zurich “very soon,” so stay tuned for video drops featuring double-decker buses and “West End Girls” instrumentals in Shift’s near future. But those in The Big Apple interested in feeding the beast for compound spring cleaning had better act fast, as this is a limited-time offer. Just don’t expect the cleaners to be able to get rid of whatever is causing that sudden sulfurous smell when you sign on the dotted line.
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