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Is licensing your company data to AI a scam?

There is genuine demand, and there are shady players. Big, well-funded firms openly pay for business records, while the ads you scroll past are mostly from brand-new brokers that are hard to vet.

AI Data Offers research deskChecked against our methodology Updated October 28, 2026 2 min read 7 sources

In this guide

01

What is on the public record

  • In Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy, Google's $10M topped Mercor's $7.5M for the internal archive, before micro1 came in later at $12.5M. As we write, the judge has yet to decide.
  • Cielo24 reportedly earned a six-figure sum for Slack, Jira and email covering 13 years.
  • Citi and Hercules Capital back micro1's $1B budget, and micro1 reports closing more than 50 data deals inside 45 days.
  • A $350M Series C put Mercor's valuation at $10B.

02

What should slow you down

  • A form, not a website. The typical ad opens a Meta instant form that collects your contact details before you have seen any terms. Meta has even taken down some micro1 ads for breaking its ad rules.
  • Nobody named. Certain advertisers never say which company they are. Others seem to pass leads to a larger buyer without telling you. The success stories in broker ads almost never identify the seller.
  • A hidden final buyer. According to MIT Technology Review, sellers frequently have no idea which lab ends up with their records.

03

The clearest test: which way the money flows

04

Five checks before you share a file

  1. 1A proper website naming the company and its street address (a form alone is not enough)
  2. 2Which AI lab ends up with the records, by name
  3. 3A written offer before anything leaves your systems
  4. 4No passwords or admin access to live systems
  5. 5A cleaned sample you review before signing

FAQ

Questions, answered

Is selling company data to AI companies legitimate?

Yes, the market is real and funded. Individual advertisers vary, so check each one.

What is the biggest red flag?

Any request for an upfront fee, followed by pressure to sign quickly or a request for system passwords.

Has anyone actually been paid?

Yes. Closed startups have been paid through SimpleClosure and others, and large bids such as Google's for Spirit Airlines are public.

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Sources

Every number on this page links back to one of these.

  1. 1Bloomberg Law, Google aims to boost AI with purchase of Spirit Airlines datanews.bloomberglaw.com
  2. 2Fortune, micro1 bids $12.5M for Spirit Airlines datafortune.com
  3. 3The Next Web, micro1 commits $1B to enterprise datathenextweb.com
  4. 4TechCrunch, Mercor reaches $10B valuation with $350M Series Ctechcrunch.com
  5. 5Forbes, AI's new training data: your old work Slacks and emailsforbes.com
  6. 6MIT Technology Review, AI labs buying data from dead startupstechnologyreview.com
  7. 7Meta Ad Libraryfacebook.com

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