AI lab or data lab profile
Handshake AI: what it takes, how it earns, what to check
A worker-and-employer network that runs an expert fellowship and a separate company-data partnerships program.
- Type
- AI lab or data lab. Licenses or partners for the data itself, under its own agreement.
- Legal entity
- Handshake (joinhandshake.com)
- Data it wants
Operational data from businesses across industries, de-identified by Handshake and delivered to AI labs under contract.
The page does not itemize data types or source tools.
- Who it takes
20+ full-time employees and 3+ years in operation (referral page).
Intake form lists the USA, Canada, Europe and other.
- How it earns
Licenses de-identified company data to AI labs. Its FAQ says payments follow defined delivery milestones, typically 30 to 60 days after it accepts the de-identified dataset. Its margin is not published.
- Process
- Submit an intake form with your company and tools.
- For a referred company, the team says it reaches out within 1 to 2 days, then holds a scoping call on data parameters, de-identification, terms and timeline.
- Handshake says it de-identifies and formats the data.
- Confidential delivery to AI labs under contract. Its FAQ says payments follow defined delivery milestones, typically 30 to 60 days after acceptance of the de-identified dataset.
- Payout claims
- Partnerships range from $100K to $4M+ depending on the data shared.
- Calculator example: 100 employees, 10 years, USA shows $383,083 to $896,969, labelled indicative and not an offer.
- Handshake AI's company referral page states $250M paid out to partners and 1K+ partner companies. Its fellowship page states $500M+ in payouts. The scope of each total is unclear, and neither predicts what one company would receive.
Public figure, see sourceSelf-reported by the company unless marked reported.
- Security claims
- No certification stated on the page we read.
- Says access is limited to authorized teams.
- De-identification and privacy
Its data partnerships page lists de-identification before delivery and never names partners.
The same page notes that no de-identification process removes re-identification risk entirely, and that a third party may be able to re-identify personal information by combining it with other data.
- Terms for companies
- Your warranties. Its page says data partners remain responsible for making their transfer to Handshake AI comply with applicable legal requirements.
- Your indemnity and audit. Not published.
- Liability cap. Not published.
- Governing law. Not published.
Our guides go further: how Handshake AI uses your company data.
Check before you share anything
These are facts from the company's own pages or from news and court reports, listed so you can ask about them. They are not verdicts. Companies change their terms, so confirm each one on the company's own page.
- Two payout totals on its own pages ($250M and $500M+) do not say what each covers.
- Business Insider reported in Mar 2026 that contractors on OpenAI projects were suspended and some went unpaid (worker side of the business, via AOL syndication, dated 4 Mar 2026).
- The contract for the company is not public. Its FAQ says terms are negotiated per agreement and put in writing before any data moves.
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The logo identifies Handshake AI. Handshake AI does not endorse Vaultfish.
Not sure whether your data can be licensed at all? Read the risk map before you fill in any intake form.
