A startup offering AI chatbot companionship has gone viral after posting one of the internet's most eyebrow-raising job listings: 10 paid "masturbation consultants" to test its new audio feature.
The unusual role reportedly pays $2,000 a month for four weeks — and generated far more interest than the company expected.
According to Futurism, Joi AI, which operates an NSFW AI chatbot platform, posted on social media seeking testers to try an audio-guided feature and document their experiences.
Within days, the company said it had received more than 100,000 applications.
Under the listing, selected applicants would complete daily sessions and submit weekly reflections describing how the experience affected their lives, "in a good way or a bad way," according to comments from Joi AI head of brand Julie Levin.
The overwhelming response appeared to catch the company off guard.
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"What are we supposed to do with 100,000 applications?" Levin said.
Joi AI later highlighted some of the humorous submissions it received. According to a company post on X, applicants opened with lines such as "this is my calling," "I've been training for this my whole life," "my therapist said I needed a hobby," and "I applied on behalf of my husband."
The joke-filled reactions helped propel the listing across social media, but the attention also reflects growing public interest in a rapidly expanding and increasingly controversial segment of the AI industry: digital companionship.
Unlike many AI-related jobs that involve tasks such as labeling images, reviewing text, or evaluating model output behind the scenes, this role demonstrates how some companies are seeking highly personal forms of user feedback to develop products designed to simulate emotional or intimate interactions.
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Critics have warned that AI companion platforms can deepen loneliness, blur boundaries, and encourage unhealthy attachments. Some experts have also linked heavy chatbot dependence to greater psychological distress and disconnection from reality.
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