San Francisco · ChatGPT · Crypto Briefing
Mercor’s 60 Minutes moment puts the humans behind AI in the spotlight
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The San Francisco startup pays a network of more than 100,000 freelance experts to teach AI models judgment, and it has grown into a $10 billion company doing it.
Key facts
- Mercor reached a $10 billion valuation after closing a $350 million Series C round in October 2025
- The San Francisco company got the 60 Minutes treatment in an October 4, 2026, segment
- The San Francisco startup pays a network of more than 100,000 freelance experts to teach AI models judgment, and it has grown into a $10 billion company doing it
- Mercor was founded in 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha
Summary
The San Francisco company got the 60 Minutes treatment in an October 4, 2026, segment. Mercor sits between the biggest AI labs and a large pool of skilled contractors. The technical term is reinforcement learning from human feedback, usually shortened to RLHF. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy.