Amazon to Shut Down Mechanical Turk Platform September 30

Amazon.com Inc. will shut down its crowdsourced work platform, Mechanical Turk, on September 30, 2026. Launched in 2005, the service matched human workers with small digital jobs called Human Intelligence Tasks, including audio transcription and data labeling, which were originally too complex for machines to perform.

The company stated the decision follows a regular assessment of its programs, tools, and services. The platform, which once supported over 500,000 workers, has seen a decline as AI models advanced and competing data startups like Scale AI, Mercor, and Prolific entered the market. A 2023 study found that up to 46% of workers used AI to complete their tasks.

Amazon stopped accepting new customers for the service last month, despite previously marketing it as a data annotation source for its SageMaker service. The closure creates income uncertainty for full-time workers and leaves several insurance and travel companies searching for alternative data platforms. Amazon has established a frequently asked questions page to provide support for the impacted workforce.