# What are data partnerships in AI data licensing?

> Data partnerships in AI explained: company data programs at micro1 and Handshake AI, lab programs like OpenAI's, who pays introducers, and stated figures.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/data-partnerships  
Published: 2026-09-12  
Updated: 2026-10-13

## The short answer

Data partnerships let an AI company use a group's data. Company programs pay businesses for their records. Lab programs ask groups to help build datasets. Some firms pay introducers, so ask who pays yours. micro1 lists $100K+ to $1M+ tiers. Handshake AI states $100K to $4M+, self-reported.

## What do people mean by data partnerships?

People use the phrase as if it were one product. It is two, and the terms differ in each.

> **Data licensing means a buyer gets to use your records for a while, under rules.** It works like renting out a spare room. You keep the house.

Figure: comparison of Two things people call a data partnership: Company data program (emphasized: Pays for records you already hold, You license records), AI lab program (Lab co-builds sets). Company data programs get the emphasis because they pay for records a business already holds.

## What is a company data program?

[micro1](/buyers/micro1)'s CFO described its Company Data Partnerships in an undated recorded forum talk as a way to earn from data a company already stores. The CFO named two ways in for a company.

One is a corpus deal covering stored records, and micro1's [Enterprise Data Partnership listing](https://www.micro1.ai/company-referral) says $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages.

Another is a recurring workflows track, where employees use an AI agent on real tasks and grade it (forum recording). micro1 also pays people who introduce a company. Ask whoever introduces you whether micro1 pays them.

micro1's pages state tiers of $100K+, $500K+ and $1M+ for companies with 30 or more employees ([micro1](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)).

The current criteria also list mature operations and primarily English documentation, with US companies prioritized. The undated talk gave a lower, earlier staff figure, which is history.

[Handshake AI](/buyers/handshake-ai) states $100K to $4M+. The first steps are a form, a chat and a scoping call ([Handshake AI](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/)). [Troveo](/buyers/troveo), a marketplace, covers business data too ([Troveo](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data)). See [Handshake AI data partnerships](/answers/handshake-ai-data-partnerships).

## What is an AI lab partnership program?

OpenAI announced Data Partnerships in November 2023. It wanted to work with outside groups on large public and private datasets that are hard to find online.

It asked especially for data that "expresses human intention", such as long writing and conversations ([TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/09/openai-wants-to-work-with-organizations-to-build-new-ai-training-data-sets)).

The announcement describes teamwork. It states no price.

## Who pays the person who introduces you?

Some data companies pay whoever introduces a company to them. If someone introduces you to a data company, ask them in writing whether that company pays them, how much and when. A fee from that company can shape where they point you.

_Two jobs, one name. Somebody in marketing had a good day._

## Which kind should you look at?

If you have years of Slack, email, tickets or CRM records, the first kind is your lane. First confirm you hold the rights to license them.

Run the [rights check](/rights-check), read the [risk map](/risks) and compare firms in our guide to [which AI data buyers to compare](/guides/best-ai-data-brokers).

micro1 may pay us a referral fee if a company we introduce goes ahead with it. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)

Have a lawyer read any contract before you sign. They like that.

[Apply to micro1's data partnership (paid link)](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710?referralCode=f82e519e-5d64-4e0e-9574-760c84371cf2&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=data_referral) · [micro1's own data-partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)

_Paid link. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)_

_Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one._

## Sources

- [Enterprise Data Partnership listing](https://www.micro1.ai/company-referral)
- [micro1](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)
- [Handshake AI](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/)
- [Troveo](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data)
- [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/09/openai-wants-to-work-with-organizations-to-build-new-ai-training-data-sets)