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What is a data lab?

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The short answer

A data lab is micro1's term for a company that supplies training data to AI models, sitting between data holders and AI labs. A data lab supplies and transforms the data. micro1's Enterprise Data Partnership listing says $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages, its own claim. A finder only introduces parties.

Public figure, see sourceCheck your data
Three roles between company data and a trained modelAI labTrains the modelData labSupplies the dataFinderMakes introductionsThe data lab is emphasized because it supplies thedata, which is how micro1 describes its own role.Three roles between companydata and a trained modelAI labTrains the modelData labSupplies the dataFinderMakes introductionsThe data lab is emphasizedbecause it supplies thedata, which is how micro1describes its own role.

Three roles get mixed up in this market. A data lab is one of them.

How is a data lab different from an AI lab?

An AI lab builds and trains models. A data lab supplies what those models learn from, such as expert-written answers, grading and real company records.

micro1's human data page says its work uses domain specialists across 100+ fields (self-reported). It also runs company-data partnerships, where companies keep ownership of their data. Our page on human data covers the first kind, and what micro1 is covers both.

How is a data lab different from a finder?

A finder introduces owners to buyers and may never hold the data. A data lab takes in, transforms and delivers the data.

micro1's David Revland said in an undated recorded forum talk that its team swaps names for consistent stand-ins. micro1 staff said companies cannot scrub the data first, so micro1 transforms each corpus itself. That puts the lab inside the data's path.

Our page on data brokers covers the finder role.

Does micro1 pay companies directly?

micro1 says it does. Its Enterprise Data Partnership listing says $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages. TechCrunch reported that micro1 reached a $500 million gross annualized run rate, per a person familiar with the company.

Both are self-reported or sourced to insiders.

A marketplace such as Troveo works differently. Its business-data page says it pays owners on every sale after the first as well, and it publishes no split.

What should a company ask a data lab?

Ask who sees the raw data, where it is stored, whether it is a sale or a license, and what happens at deletion. Our risk map lists the contract points, and the rights check lists what you need to know about your own data first.

micro1 may pay us a referral fee if a company we introduce goes ahead with it. How we are paid

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

Apply to micro1's data partnership (paid link)micro1's own data-partnerships pagePaid link. How we are paid

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. Ask for a referral

Sources 4

The outside sources linked on this page.

  1. micro1.aiHuman data page
  2. micro1.aimicro1 says
  3. techcrunch.comTechCrunch
  4. troveo.aiBusiness-data page