What is clawded.ai?
World Model (world-model.xyz) is launching a job-matching tool for remote AI data work. It matches paid subscribers to verified openings across AI training platforms such as Mercor, Handshake AI, micro1 and Toloka.
A paid subscriber, a biology PhD in California, wrote to me last month with a problem I keep hearing in different forms. One platform removed their account the moment they confirmed they live in California. Another offer was gone by the time they applied. Their question: which platforms still accept California contractors, and are there any W-2 tracks?
They’re not alone. Of the 10 paid subscribers I currently match jobs for, 6 have hit a wall that had nothing to do with their skills and everything to do with where they live. One is outside the US and can’t get through a platform’s identity check from his location; VPNs are blocked too. One is a French national authorized to work only in the EU. Two are in California. Two are in the UK.
So I went back through every role I track. On October 1 that was 2,384 open roles across 27 platforms, each confirmed live at the source, and I sorted them by who is actually allowed to apply.
Here’s the first finding, free. (Mercor links in this post are my referral links; you pay nothing extra.)
There is a W-2 track, and it’s the cleanest answer for Californians. Mercor currently lists 9 roles that are W-2 employment through Cincinnatus LLC, not independent contracting. Because you’re an employee, the contractor restrictions that keep pushing California residents out don’t apply the same way. The one I’d look at first if you’re a life scientist:
Mercor — Molecular Biology Experts (US)
$70–105/hr · Remote, US only · W-2 employee, 20+ hours a week
A leading AI lab needs PhD molecular biologists to design and review tasks on primers, plasmids, guide RNAs and repair templates.
Strong fit if: you’ve done hands-on cloning or CRISPR construct design and can show it.
➤ https://work.mercor.com/jobs/list_AAABoJEZsx-GA2FkHqpMwZV9Confirmed live 10/1
Below the paywall:
The eligibility map: 15 platforms sorted by US-only, worldwide, UK, EU and Asia, plus how many listings never say where you can work from
All 9 W-2 roles, with pay and where each is open (one is UK-only, one is open in the UK, US and Canada)
The California and “strict-state” problem: which platforms exclude California, and the one listing that also excludes New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont
If you’re outside the US: the two platforms where every role I track is open internationally or worldwide
Identity checks: how they block people, and what to check before you spend hours on an assessment
A 5-minute eligibility checklist to run before you apply anywhere
What to do this week, whether you’re in California, outside the US, or EU/UK-only
