India · MIT Technology Review
He picks up his hands in front of him like a sleepwalker and puts a sheet on his bed
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Zeus is a data recorder for Micro1, a US company based in Palo Alto, California that collects real-world data to sell to robotics companies.
Key facts
- Editor’s note: In a recent poll, MIT Technology Review readers selected humanoid robots as the 11th breakthrough for their 2026 list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies
- Investors are pouring money feverishly into solving this challenge, spending over $6 billion on humanoid robots in 2025
- Zeus is paid $15 an hour, which is good income in Nigeria’s strained economy with high unemployment rates
- According to Stanford’s 2026 AI Index, AI is sprinting, and they're struggling to keep up
Summary
When Zeus, a medical student living in a hilltop city in central Nigeria, returns to his studio apartment from a long day at the hospital, he turns on his ring light, straps his iPhone to his forehead, and starts recording himself. Micro1 has hired thousands of contract workers in more than 50 countries, including India, Nigeria, and Argentina, where swathes of tech-savvy young people are looking for jobs. Zeus found the job in November, when people started talking about it everywhere on LinkedIn and YouTube. Zeus is paid $15 an hour, which is good income in Nigeria’s strained economy with high unemployment rates.