Imagine looking up at the night sky and noticing new constellations, only to find out they are made up of data centers. This may sound like science fiction, but Google has announced plans to make this a reality beginning as early as 2027. The cost of constructing these data centers on Earth already runs into the tens of millions to over two billion dollars each.
With estimated daily earnings between $960 million and $973 million, Google can easily afford to pull this off. Meanwhile, other tech giants are poised to follow suit if they so choose. Meta rakes in about $450 million daily, and OpenAI generates approximately $33 million. This lofty project would be a drop in a very large bucket.
Now, imagine a world where big tech companies compensate workers across the globe with livable wages and provide health benefits. This version doesn’t sound far-fetched, but unfortunately, it is. The U.S. government permits Big Tech to outsource the very worst jobs to the global south, allowing them to pay pennies without oversight or repercussions. There’s no obligation to offer medical care or legitimate contracts. In this space, profit is king, even if it compromises workers’ health and well-being.
While some argue that companies like Meta are creating jobs for those who need them most, why should we accept subpar working conditions in this area when we reject them elsewhere? Why prioritize billions for space colonization rather than support the workers who make that dream possible?
While conducting research on the human labor that goes into building AI systems, I met Jane, a pseudonym to protect her identity for her job safety, and she is a content moderator in Kenya. She works in a warehouse disguised as an office building, earning just $14 per day for long hours spent viewing and flagging disturbing content. Jane and others like her spend their work days viewing, tagging, and removing videos and images containing physical violence, sexual assault, child abuse, animal cruelty, and all of the worst things that exist in the world before they reach our eyes and ears.
Jane doesn’t receive healthcare, mental healthcare, overtime pay, or a standard work contract. She is not allowed to discuss her salary or work with her colleagues. If she is asked to work beyond her eight hours, she can choose to work without extra pay or lose her job. Non-disclosure agreements keep Jane and her colleagues from seeking support from family members, friends, and mental health professionals. The consequences for breaking the NDA are harsh and often retaliatory.
In contrast, a typical employee benefit package at Meta in the U.S. includes healthcare, generous time off, vacation days, wellness stipends, mental health support, and even complimentary on-site meals.
The internet’s infrastructure isn’t built only from steel, code, and fiber optics. It also depends heavily on the labor of people like Jane, who carry so much so that the rest of us can scroll through our feeds without a second thought. They deserve not only proper pay and benefits, but our gratitude.
Tech companies want us to buy into a world that is run by magic. For now, however, we rely heavily on countless hidden individuals who train systems, label content, and manage data. If we allow exploitation to be the norm, the technology we all enjoy will continue to come at the cost of human suffering.
Governments need to act immediately, and society needs to take its share of the responsibility. Policymakers must hold Big Tech accountable by enforcing fair labor standards worldwide. Consumers should push for transparency from tech companies and purchase from ethical companies.
If Big Tech has the budget to put data centers 400 miles above the Earth’s surface, it absolutely has the budget to adequately compensate its workers on the ground. Big Tech cannot claim to be building the future while exploiting those who keep it running. Before we venture into space, we must ensure that individuals on the ground, like Jane, have fair and proper working conditions.