Bengaluru vegetable sellar wearing iPhone headgear earns ₹1 lakh a month through ‘AI work’

A vegetable seller in Bengaluru spotted wearing a head-mounted device with an iPhone resting against his forehead has left commuters perplexed. A video shared by an Instagram user named Vaibhav shows the vendor allegedly collecting real-world data for artificial intelligence (AI) training. Vaibhav shared that he was riding his scooty when he noticed the vegetable seller wearing a setup rigged with an “iPhone and a memory card”.

Why was the vendor wearing the device?

Vaibhav said he approached the seller to ask why he was wearing the headband.

“I was just cruising on my scooty when I had to literally slam on the brakes for this," he wrote.

The man allegedly told the Instagram user that the headband, fitted with a memory card and an iPhone, was recording his surroundings for a company - whose identity remains unknown - which would then use the real-world data to teach AI how the world looks and works.

According to the Instagram post, the vendor claimed he was being paid ₹350 per hour for the work, leading many online users to calculate that he could earn more than ₹1 lakh a month.

“The answer? He’s collecting real-world data for AI training. The kicker? They get paid ₹350/hour. Do the math: 10 hours a day = ₹3,500/day. That’s over ₹1,05,000 a month,” Vaibhav wrote.

‘The future is wild'

Vaibhav said he was stunned to learn that a street vendor could potentially earn more than many office workers simply by “helping collect data for AI”.

“I’m still sitting here processing the fact that a street vendor might be out-earning half of corporate India by walking around with a smartphone on his head. The future is wild,” he wrote.

How did social media react?

The clip triggered a flood of reactions online, with many users expressing shock at how AI-related jobs are creating unexpected earning opportunities.

One user wrote: “What if bro is streaming?”

Another asked: “Which AI platform?”

A third user said: “For anyone who isn’t aware, this is basically becoming the next version of the AI services industry, something India had a huge advantage in because companies could hire skilled talent here at much lower costs. But now, with tools like Claude getting so good, a lot of that advantage is gone. India still has the cost advantage, but we don’t yet have enough deep tech innovation to dominate entirely new sectors.

This is called egocentric data collection. People use devices like iPhones with LiDAR sensors to record real-world human activities with depth and motion understanding. That data is then sold to U.S. robotics and humanoid companies so they can train robots to behave more like humans and interact with objects properly, things like folding clothes, cooking, washing utensils, and doing everyday tasks.

This is the next big hot sector (no comments on how good/bad this will be)”

A fourth user commented: “I respect brother's hard work... But the output will be corrupt due to background noise.”

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Livemint has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)