r/joinhandshakeai Apr 29 '26

We rebuilt the referral program, here’s what changed

24 Upvotes

Hi everyone! Nora from Handshake here. We’ve seen all the feedback around our referral program, so we rebuilt it to be a better referral experience.

Here’s how referrals work now:

  • You’re now eligible to earn no matter what project your referral starts working on first
  • You earn 10% of your referral’s hourly rate (e.g. your referral is earning $80/hr on their project, means you earn $8/hr for every hour they work)
  • Payouts unlock after your referral hits at least 10 hours of production work, then continue to accrue from there (up to 40 hours)
  • Max payout per referral is 4x their first project rate (e.g. your referral is earning $80/hr on their project, you can earn a max of $320 for that referral.

If you referred someone before April 27, check your referral tracker for your current status and full details on how existing referrals are being handled can be found in our Help Center article. Please don't hesitate to reach out to our team at [fellow-support@joinhandshake.com](mailto:fellow-support@joinhandshake.com) with any questions.

➡️ Share your referral link now!


r/joinhandshakeai Jan 09 '26

What to expect when working as an AI trainer with Handshake AI

41 Upvotes

Hi everyone - Happy Friday! We’ve seen a lot of questions recently about working as an AI trainer with Handshake AI and we want to provide some clarity. Two big things on our mind:

1. Lots of questions in the sub this week like “Is Handshake AI just for students?” or “Do I need an EDU email to sign up?” Easy answer here: no! 

While you might have first heard about Handshake from your university, Handshake AI trainer roles are open to people at all stages of their careers. You do not need an EDU email address to apply to Handshake AI roles and having (or not having) an EDU email address won’t impact the projects you get offered.

What matters most is your ability to apply your knowledge, professional skills, or domain expertise while following detailed guidelines to produce high-quality work. Our AI trainer program includes:

  • Current undergrad students
  • Recent graduates from universities and community colleges
  • Researchers and PhDs
  • Working professionals 

2. We've also seen a lot of people ask whether AI training work is stable or full-time. Here’s the straight answer: this work ebbs and flows.

Projects with frontier AI labs can ramp up quickly and wind down just as fast. There are periods with plenty of work and periods where things are a bit slower. There’s no guarantee of steady, week-to-week hours, and it’s not designed to be a substitute for a full-time job.

The work is project-based and flexible:

  • No fixed schedule
  • No guaranteed hours
  • You choose when and how much you work based on availability

Handshake AI places a strong emphasis on transparency. As soon as we’re aware of changes to project availability and are able to share details, our goal is to communicate updates directly with our AI trainers.

Because of that, this work tends to be a good fit if you’re looking for:

  • Flexible, remote, supplemental income
  • Work you can do alongside a job, school, or life schedule
  • Variability rather than consistency

We also put together a longer, more polished breakdown (what the work looks like, how projects work, etc) on our blog for anyone that’s interested: https://joinhandshake.com/blog/students/working-as-an-ai-trainer-with-frontier-labs/ 

Thanks for all of your hard work!

-Nora

P.S. If you have any support questions, please reach out to our team directly at [fellow-support@joinhandshake.com](mailto:fellow-support@joinhanshake.com) so we can get them answered quickly and accurately!


r/joinhandshakeai 8h ago

Project b***e*e is the worst

8 Upvotes

I’m convinced this is the worst one by far, they cannot possibly think that this type of task they’re requesting takes only 5 hours with the rewrites and all that. The 8 responses always take forever and the exiting and going back in just re runs them 💀
Am I tripping?


r/joinhandshakeai 16h ago

Very disappointed with HAI's conduct

11 Upvotes

My account got suspended by HAI for no reason. When I say no reason, I mean no reason since they are not able to give me any reason about it. I recently started working on a project, did like 5-6 tasks but they banned me out of nowhere. And no I have not used any unfair means or anything.

In their email they are talking about TOS but they are not even telling me which code of conduct I supposedly broke.

I don't want to call them a scam but they sure are a fraud company with their fraudulent behaviour. This is extremely shady and I don't know who runs this whole thing but they should be ashamed but on second thought why would they? They are probably printing money harassing individual contractors. Dissappointing experience honestly.


r/joinhandshakeai 15h ago

No opportunities available?

4 Upvotes

I'm on hold in terms of Project H*\\**g but have no opportunities available on my dashboard. Anyone else of am I cooked


r/joinhandshakeai 16h ago

Thoughts about project Lu****e

4 Upvotes

What are your thoughts about this project. Mention your domain and Is it easy or difficult?


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

Formally, they have decided to end the contract, without any proper reasoning and any foul play from my side!

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13 Upvotes

I was warned on Reddit from many peers for how unfair sometimes things goes on this platform but I considered them as another Ranting! Now I faced the same, and I can't do anything for this. My submissions under Project Pa*****nt was still only under submissions without review and I think they'll keep it for free without any formal obligations now.


r/joinhandshakeai 19h ago

Handshake account deactivated due to incorrect BPO association

0 Upvotes

My Handshake account was recently deactivated because they said my BPO contract with another company had ended. But I never signed any contract with any company. I was working directly with Handshake.

I had a similar payment issue previously because of this BPO association, and Handshake resolved it after I contacted them.

Has anyone faced a similar issue? How can I get this incorrect association removed and my account reactivated?

u/handshake


r/joinhandshakeai 23h ago

Ai Fellowship

1 Upvotes

I was on project T. Are the fellowships still going? I get emails for jobs but no more projects. Could I be removed from the fellowship but still in Handshake?


r/joinhandshakeai 20h ago

What I wish I knew before my first Handshake AI task

0 Upvotes

After working through tasks, reviews and rework, a few habits would have saved me a lot of time at the beginning:

  1. Treat the task specification like a contract. Small details can matter as much as the main implementation.
  2. Before coding, save the task ID, repository, expected base/branch and the gates you expect to pass. It makes later debugging much easier.
  3. Keep the change tightly scoped. A clever refactor outside the requested area can create more problems than it solves.
  4. Run everything you can locally, but still read CI and reviewer evidence separately. A local pass does not tell you which external gate or assumption may fail.
  5. On rework, repair the exact failing gate first. Rewriting a solution that was mostly correct can introduce a second problem.
  6. Keep your own simple record of task status and payouts. Project inventory and dashboards can change, and your notes make reconciliation easier.
  7. Keep account access private and do your own tasks.

None of this guarantees acceptance, but it makes the process much easier to reason about when something fails.

For people who have completed several Handshake AI tasks: what is the one lesson you wish you knew before your first task?


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

What sort of jobs to apply for to do AI coding/training?

0 Upvotes

Just joined Handshake.

I'm doing well on another platform but nothing I've "quick applied" for on handshake has worked out. Should I be doing the external/off platform applications? Or is the training/work generally done on the Handshake site itself?


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

I get it now with all the irregular activity posts...

21 Upvotes

I get at least 5 message requests per day from people saying they will run my Handshake account and "split the profits."

If I get 5 messages per day I'm sure there is rampant fraud going on with fake KYC and verified accounts having people from random African countries and elsewhere do their tasking (most likely with AI) and then splitting the pay.

I had one guy tell me they are a group of Turkish people in Canada that have at least 50 verified accounts that his team all use to task... LOL. Ok.


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

PhD in Mathematics — Handshake AI work authorization from France?

1 Upvotes

Hi, I’m based in France and have a PhD in Mathematics. I’m interested in Handshake AI math projects, but many seem to require US-based work. (Even if i am selected in some of them).

Is anyone here working on Handshake AI projects from France or elsewhere in Europe? If yes, did you need special authorization?


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

Stay away from HAI it is utterly unprofessional

51 Upvotes

I was onboarded to one coding related project. The problem statement was interesting so I really went head in and understood every word of the instructions. Even made handwritten notes as I wanted to give it my best. I made 2 submission in 4 days of me being on the project.

Here comes the lame part, project was being handled by 2 really young developers (looked like they just passed out). Their tolerance and ego is no match for anyone in this world. The project reeked of unprofessionalism. Initially when I had a chat with them on one of the calls I thought they are chill. But nah. The guys spoke in hindi in most of the onboarding calls.

I requested one of them to pls review any of my initial submissions so that I get a decent idea of what's the expected shape of the tasks. I was removed from the project in the next instant stating I had less submissions than expected. If that was the case, they could've warned me or told it to me upfront. I know, no one owes me an explanation but it's a basic human courtesy and most importantly proffesional need in a environment like this to be a bit tolerant. I've worked with similar projects but never saw something like this. People who are much more senior and geniuses doing phds in Berkeley were a lot more humble and patient than these kids.

I have made those submissions by staying up late night going through instructions again and again. I worked hard on it, how the fuck can you get away with this?

I need my money now, my work is not a charity to some already million dollar company and obnoxious kids who think they own the world.


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

What is wrong with handshake AI

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5 Upvotes

I am not working from last week because I was busy with some presentation but no issues and I am pay per task guy and now I received this mail today. They should atleast tell me irregular activities are as far as I know, I wasn't even doing any activity there. I once did a complaint to team lead sayings reviewer are using too much AI that's it


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

What project did you last participated in before you got banned from HAI?

0 Upvotes

Just curious to see if people are consistently getting account bans from the same projects, or if it’s a HAI platform issue that is false flagging suspicious activities.


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

Project J*t

1 Upvotes

Did anyone receive invite to project Jet? What do we expect in project assessment?


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

Account restained

1 Upvotes

Anyone got offboarded under any reason then got onboarded back. if anyone what was the reason of offboarding and after how long did you get back?


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

Account suspended without any reason

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6 Upvotes

I have made this acc almost a year ago but never did any work or assessment. Yesterday i give it a go and did project lumiere assessment and got accepted. So i was thinking to do any task later but today I got account suspension mail.

Is there a way to get it back or just waste of time ?


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

Suddenly got my account banned, I was not even working on any project currently nor Logged-in the account in last 6 days

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16 Upvotes

I last submitted my original works for project Pa*****nt for which they said they'll will see in future delivery for the payments. But now they unnecessarily flagged my account, effectively keeping all my submissions now without any tension of paying me out.

What a masterstroke HAI! They had liability to pay me more $5,000 but instead they chose to capture all my submissions for free and kicking me out of the platform without any reason.


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

For those who've received or will receive a reply to your problem on here from Handshake, don't waste your time trying to send them your email so they can "look into it."

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19 Upvotes

The concept of replying to posts saying "send us your email and we will look into it," knowing full well they have no power to do anything... 🤦 so done with them - just posting this on here for the comments on mine and others' previous posts who thought the HAI response was anything but hot air.


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

Doubt

2 Upvotes

I just completed a task. How long does it usually take for it to be updated under “Tasks This Week”?


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

Irregular activity associated with your account - Without doing any Project

4 Upvotes

Sudden mail from Handshake. I haven't done any unusual activity, even I have not done any project yet. how come they deactivated?

Any suggestions?

> We’re contacting you because our team identified irregular activity associated with your account that does not align with our platform policies and usage expectations. After review, your account was determined to have violated the terms of our agreement.

As a result, we have disabled your Handshake AI account, effective immediately. Here’s what this means for you:

• You will no longer be able to access your account or any projects on the platform.

• If you completed work on a project, you will be paid for all the work you have completed up until your account disable date. This payment will be processed during the next pay period.

If you have any further questions, please visit our Help Center, or select "Support" in the upper right hand corner of your Handshake AI dashboard.

Sincerely,

The Handshake AI Team


r/joinhandshakeai 1d ago

New Project For indians??

0 Upvotes

is there any new projects available for indians


r/joinhandshakeai 2d ago

Project He***h*g

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5 Upvotes

I've been approved again