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Just weeks after raising $350 million at a $10 billion valuation, San Francisco AI startup Mercor abruptly shut down an AI training project known as Musen, contractors told Forbes. Thousands of workers said they were locked out of Slack and later received an email offering roles on a new project, Nova, at $16 an hour, down from $21 and below some state minimum wages. The scrapped effort involved reviewing Meta Reels content, they said. Mercor promised steadier hours; some signed on anyway. A company spokesperson called the characterization inaccurate and declined further comment.

Prepared by Christopher Adams and reviewed by editorial team.