Scale AI · Creative domain partnerships
Scale AI builds the benchmarks that the latest AI models are tested on. For creative work, we partner long term with best-in-class studios and experts in each field. Your senior team helps us decide what great work looks like, and your best past projects become the data those benchmarks are built on. This page walks through each part of the partnership, who we work with, and each step from the first call to payment.
Why we're reaching out
A benchmark is only useful while the work in it is still hard for AI. New models ship every few weeks, so work that a model can almost do today stops being a test within a release or two.
We're looking for partners whose judgment and work will stand the test of time against AI. We want expert input and projects that will still be hard for models several releases from now.
To build benchmarks that stay hard, we need two things from the people who set the standard in their field. The first is their judgment on what makes work hard and what makes it great. The second is real projects with a client brief, messy inputs, many outputs, and the calls that only a senior team makes. Your studio already has both.
Your experts help decide what good looks like, and your past projects become part of how the industry measures AI on your craft. You get paid for the projects you sell.
The partnership
We work with your team on its expertise, its best past work, and long-term advice on where AI falls short. You can start with any one of them.
01 · Shape the benchmarks
Your senior people tell us which projects are hard, what a brief and its raw inputs need to include, and where today's AI falls short. Their input sets how AI gets tested on work like yours.
02 · Sell your best past work
We buy your best finished projects, with the source files, the client brief, and the inputs behind them, on terms that fit your studio.
03 · Become a trusted advisor
The Human Frontier Collective is Scale AI's fellowship for leading experts. It has mostly focused on STEM fields so far, and we're now building it out for creative fields. Fellows advise us over the long term on where AI falls short in their craft.
Who we work with
We work with a small number of best-in-class partners per field. Most are independent studios of 5 to 30 people with a deep archive of client work, along with senior independent experts.
Top training. Degrees or programs from the leading schools in your field.
Top studio experience. Time at studios or firms known for the best work in the field.
Recognition. Awards, festival selections, or shortlists in your field.
Peer standing. Judging, teaching, speaking, or a reputation among other top studios.
What we buy
We buy complete projects that took a senior team days or weeks. Each one should include everything from the first brief to the final files.
| We look for | What that means |
|---|---|
| Project scale | Multi-day or multi-week client work with several outputs, such as a campaign, a full identity system, or a finished production. |
| The original brief | The brief, notes, references, and feedback rounds the client gave you, as close to how they arrived as possible. |
| Raw inputs | The footage, sketches, scans, assets, or data you started from. |
| Source files | Working files in the tools you used (project files, layered files, scenes), along with the final exports. |
| Tools used | The software, versions, and plugins your team used to make the project, so we can open and rebuild it in the same setup. |
| Rights to sell | You own the work or have the right to sell it. Work fully covered by a client NDA usually can't be included. |
| Made by people | Your team's original work. We can't use AI-generated work, stock, templates, or marketplace kits. |
| Field | Example projects | What we'd want with it |
|---|---|---|
| Video production | Commercials, branded films, music videos, short documentaries | Treatment and brief, raw footage, edit project, color and sound files, final cuts |
| Graphic design | Brand identity systems, campaigns, packaging, editorial design | Brief and references, concept rounds, layered and vector source files, final deliverables |
| 3D modeling and CAD | Product visualization, environments, hard-surface and character assets | Brief and references, scene and model files, textures, renders |
| Animation and motion | Motion graphics packages, 2D and 3D animated spots, title sequences | Script and boards, project files, assets, final renders |
| Industrial and product design | Consumer products, devices, furniture | Design brief, sketches, CAD files, renders, prototype documentation |
| Architecture and interiors | Residential, commercial, and interior projects | Client program, drawings, models, renders, specifications |
| Web and interactive | Marketing sites, web apps, interactive experiences | Brief, design files, source code, the shipped build |
| Game development | Levels, systems, art and audio packages from shipped games | Design documents, engine project files, assets, builds |
Step by step
Every partnership follows the same five steps. You only commit once you've seen an offer.
Step 1
A short call with our team. We explain the partnership, learn about your studio and archive, and agree on which past projects to look at first.
Step 2
Send us one complete project you're proud of, with its brief, inputs, and source files. We share a secure upload link, so no setup is needed on your side.
Step 3
Domain experts on our side review the project and test it against current AI models to see how far ahead of them your work is.
Step 4
If it's a fit, we make an offer for that project and agree on which other projects from your archive to include. You sign a short agreement covering rights and use.
Step 5
You upload the agreed projects in the package format below. We check each one and pay you through Outlier once it's accepted.
Your senior experts can join the benchmark side of the partnership at any point. We'll cover that on the intro call.
Delivery
One folder per project. Keep files in their original formats, and send exports alongside source files.
If you can't share a client's name, remove it from the files and tell us in the README. Leave everything else as it was.
Pricing and payment
We price each project after we review it, based on its scope and how hard it is for current AI models.
Priced per project. Larger, harder projects are worth more. We quote each project after review in step 3.
No upfront cost. Sending a project for review is free, and you aren't committed until you accept an offer.
Paid through Outlier. All payments go through Outlier, Scale AI's contributor platform. We set up the account and email you the login.
PayPal or Airtm, in USD. You add a PayPal or Airtm account in Outlier. There's no sign-up form or invoice to send.
Questions
Projects are used to build benchmarks that test and train AI models on real creative work. Your agreement in step 4 sets out the rights and use for each project.
Yes, as long as you have the right to sell it. Work that is fully covered by a client NDA usually can't be included. If you're not sure, bring the project to the intro call and we'll work through it with you.
No. We start with one project, then agree with you on which others to include. We'd rather have a smaller set of your best work.
Each step moves as fast as you do. Most of the time goes into packaging the first project. After that, later projects go faster because the format is set.
Payments go through Outlier. A company PayPal or Airtm account may work, and we'll confirm the setup with you.
Calls and written review where your experts tell us what great work looks like, which projects are hard, and where AI falls short. We'll go through the details on the intro call.