Exclusive: Former Meta and OpenAI Contractor Sama Liquidates, Citing Lawsuits

The letter, dated Nov. 6, blames “declining revenues due to increased competition that was compounded by recent class action litigation that would have required significant resources and years to defend successfully.” The letter does not specify which class-action litigation contributed to Sama's financial difficulties. The company has faced separate such lawsuits in Kenya and the U.S.

Specifically, Daniel Motaung, a former Sama moderator who was fired in 2019 after trying to organize a strike, sued Sama and Meta in 2022, claiming violations of constitutional rights including freedom of association, dignity and fair working conditions, as well as alleged forced labour and human trafficking. His petition has since been consolidated with a separate one brought by former moderators who allege they were unlawfully made redundant and blacklisted. Sama has said it complied with Kenyan labor law, and Meta denied responsibility for the working conditions.

Earlier this year, Sama separately came under fire for its work handling data from Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses. Workers told Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten that they were required to review private content from the glasses’ cameras, including people using the toilet, changing clothes, and having sex. Sama was initially named as a defendant in several proposed class-action privacy lawsuits against Meta and glasses manufacturer Luxottica, but plaintiffs voluntarily dropped their claims against Sama in August. (Meta denies the claims and says it will fight them, adding that while it may review data from smart glasses to improve its products, it takes steps to filter out private information. Luxottica did not respond to a request for comment.)

On October 23, Samasource Impact Sourcing, Inc., the U.S. company operating as Sama, transferred its assets to a newly formed company, Sama ABC, to oversee their sale and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Sama ABC is administered by “professionals who specialize in liquidating insolvent or otherwise financially distressed companies for the benefit of their creditors,” according to the letter. Despite the similar names, the letter says Sama ABC is not corporately affiliated with the company.