February 1, 2026
Who guards the doomscroll
Clearspace (YC W23) Is Hiring an Applied Researcher (ML)
YC’s Clearspace wants an AI wrangler to stop your doomscroll — and the privacy alarms are ringing
TLDR: Clearspace is hiring an AI specialist to classify internet traffic and block digital distractions, aiming to cut compulsive phone use. The community is split between cheering a “dopamine ad blocker” and warning of privacy risks, bossware vibes, and SF-only hiring—highlighting the growing fight over who controls our attention and how.
Clearspace, the “intentionality layer” startup on a mission to curb compulsive phone use, is hiring an ML researcher to train models that classify your internet traffic so it can block distractions with everyday-language rules. And the comments? A full-on cage match. One camp is thrilled, calling it an ad blocker for dopamine and begging for a tool stronger than willpower. The other camp hears “reads your traffic” and screams surveillance, slippery slope, and corporate “bossware.”
Supporters frame it like digital seatbelts: if social apps are engineered to hijack our attention, bring on equally powerful defenses. Skeptics clap back with “who watches the watchman?” and worry about false positives nuking bank logins or emergency services. The phrase “intentionality layer” got meme’d into oblivion (“buzzword bingo complete”), while SF-onsite-only hiring sparked the usual “move fast, pay my rent” jokes—and eye rolls at no visible salary range. Engineers geeked out over the idea of time-series models on network patterns, while regular folks asked, plainly: “Is this a VPN that reads everything?” Clearspace fans say on-device privacy is the make-or-break; critics say no amount of promises beats not collecting it in the first place.
Most-liked quip: “Adults buying parental controls for themselves is peak 2026.” Most heartfelt: “I just want something to stop 2 a.m. TikTok.” The vibe is equal parts hope, snark, and a very loud question: help for our habits—or a nanny for our phones?
Key Points
- •Clearspace is hiring an Applied Researcher (ML) to build production models that classify network traffic.
- •The role emphasizes data-centric ML: increasing data volume, intelligent featurization, and aligning data to model size and inference needs.
- •Responsibilities include implementing the production classification model, creating data-gathering tooling, collaborating with founders, and moving autonomously.
- •Required qualifications: Bachelor’s or higher in CS/related field and experience training production-grade sequential models on time-series data.
- •Position is onsite in San Francisco; preferred qualifications include network traffic experience and graduate research.