# How do you license business data to AI?

> Searching how to sell business data to AI? You license a defined set of records, through a marketplace or direct program, once your rights are confirmed.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/sell-business-data-to-ai  
Published: 2026-09-03  
Updated: 2026-10-14

## The short answer

License business data to AI only after confirming your rights to every record. micro1's partnership page lists SOPs, knowledge bases and CRM data, and Troveo names chat and CRM. Shutdown startups see $10K to $100K. Handshake AI states $100K to $4M+. Count your rights before any data leaves.

The market is young, and most of the figures come from the firms selling the service.

## Who buys business data?

Google placed the [$10M winning bid](https://time.com/article/2026/08/25/google-spirit-airlines-ai-data-RL/) for Spirit Airlines' archive, pending court approval. [Troveo](/buyers/troveo) runs a marketplace that licenses business data to buyers, and [Handshake AI](/buyers/handshake-ai) and Mercor's data arm run direct programs.

Names are covered in [who buys company data for AI](/buyers).

## Where does micro1 fit?

[micro1](/buyers/micro1) runs company-data partnerships for AI development. It pays compensation under the agreed data partnership, and it says companies keep ownership of their data (self-reported).

## What qualifies?

Stated minimums differ by source, so check yours against each (all self-reported):

- **[micro1 pages](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships):** 30 or more employees, mature operations and primarily English documentation, with US companies prioritized. No data-size threshold stated.
- **[Handshake AI referral page](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/referral):** 20 or more full-time employees and 3 or more years in operation.
- **[Troveo business-data page](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data):** no minimum stated.

Records you lack the right to license stay out. Email and chat hold other companies' information, often under NDAs, and counsel flags trade secrets, privilege and employee talk the US labor law protects ([Frankfurt Kurnit](https://technologylaw.fkks.com/post/102o455/selling-company-data-for-ai-training-what-to-know-before-you-say-yes)).

## What do the published figures show?

No public price list exists. [Handshake AI says](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/) partnerships range from $100K to $4M+ depending on the data shared, and micro1's pages list $100K+, $500K+ and $1M+ tiers, with its Enterprise Data Partnership listing saying $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages.

SimpleClosure reported nearly 100 deals at [$10,000 to $100,000](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916).

All are self-reported or press figures, and every public deal so far is a distressed company or a company's published headline. The [value guide](/guides/how-much-is-your-business-data-worth-to-ai) covers what moves a number.

## What is the first step?

Write a block per system: the tool, the oldest record, the approximate count, whose words are in it and any restrictions. The ten-minute sheet is in the [value guide](/guides/how-much-is-your-business-data-worth-to-ai). Then run the [rights check](/rights-check) and take the free [fit check](/business).

The full process is in the [pillar guide](/guides/how-to-sell-company-data-to-ai-companies).

Talk to a privacy or commercial lawyer in your state before you sign.

Figure: range, Data partnership range, stated, $100K to $4M. Handshake AI states a wide range for data partnerships, open at the top. Source: Handshake AI Data Partnerships page, self-reported.

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

[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

- [$10M winning bid](https://time.com/article/2026/08/25/google-spirit-airlines-ai-data-RL/)
- [micro1 pages](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)
- [Handshake AI referral page](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/referral)
- [Troveo business-data page](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data)
- [Frankfurt Kurnit](https://technologylaw.fkks.com/post/102o455/selling-company-data-for-ai-training-what-to-know-before-you-say-yes)
- [Handshake AI says](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/)
- [$10,000 to $100,000](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916)