# What to check about your records before your company closes

> Closing your company? What AI data licensing is, what shutdown deals paid, the risks, and what your wind-down team should check before anything is deleted.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/partners/wind-down/ai-data-licensing-guide  
Published: 2026-09-14  
Updated: 2026-10-14

Closing a company comes with a long list. Dissolution filings, creditors, final payroll, the lease. This guide adds one more item: the old Slack, email, CRM and tickets, and what AI labs pay to use them.

## What AI data licensing is

AI data licensing means a company lets an AI lab use its records for a set time, under written rules. The company keeps ownership.

> **Licensing means a lab uses your records for a while, under rules.** The lab gets the room. The owner keeps the house.

Why do labs want closing companies? Years of real work sit in those archives. AI labs borrow real work to learn how work gets done.

> **A closing company has a full library and no reason to keep it.** Returned to the shelf, with rules.

## What public deals show

Public prices are few. We track every one we can find.

- **Small shutdowns.** SimpleClosure sold archives from nearly 100 small companies, at $10,000 to $100,000 per company, according to [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916). Its Asset Hub [launched in April 2026](https://www.fintechfutures.com/press-releases/simpleclosure-launches-asset-hub-to-unlock-value-startups-leave-behind).
- **A long history.** Cielo24 sold 13 years of Slack, Jira and email for "hundreds of thousands" of dollars, per the same Gizmodo report.
- **Shuttered startups.** Mercor approached closed startups for Slack, Jira and email archives. Offers were reported up to $300,000, per a [BigGo summary of The Information](https://finance.biggo.com/news/d34746c0-e437-4855-93c5-09c6e850550d).
- **An airline bankruptcy.** Google won the auction for Spirit Airlines' archive with a $10 million bid, and court approval is pending, per [Time](https://time.com/article/2026/08/25/google-spirit-airlines-ai-data-RL/). Mercor bid $7.5 million, and micro1 later offered $12.5 million, per [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/09/14/micro1-tries-to-beat-googles-bid-to-buy-bankrupt-spirit-airlines-data-for-12-5-million-highlighting-value-of-data-to-ai-companies/).

**$10K to $100K** What small shutdowns have sold their archives for ([source](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916))

  

**Up to $300K** Offers reported to shuttered startups ([source](https://finance.biggo.com/news/d34746c0-e437-4855-93c5-09c6e850550d))

  

**$10M** Google's winning bid for one airline's archive. ([source](https://time.com/article/2026/08/25/google-spirit-airlines-ai-data-RL/))

Most closing companies sit at the low end of that ladder. Plenty hold records worth little. We say so when it is true.

Figure: scale, Reported archive prices: A small shutdown's archive $10K to $100K, Google's winning bid $10M (emphasized). Google's winning bid, still pending court approval, is a hundred times the top of a small shutdown's archive. Source: Gizmodo, Time and Fortune.

_Public figure, see source ([source](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916))_

_Yours is probably the short bar._

## What can go wrong

A license of records during a closing has more eyes on it than a normal one.

- **Employee and customer data.** The Spirit sale drew an objection from a union over employee data, per [Time](https://time.com/article/2026/08/25/google-spirit-airlines-ai-data-RL/). A privacy group filed an [amicus brief](https://epic.org/epic-files-amicus-brief-challenging-spirit-airlines-bankruptcy-sale-of-employee-data-to-google/). As of early October 2026 we found no ruling.
- **Secrets and privilege.** Daniel Goldberg, a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit, flags third-party confidentiality, trade secrets, waived privilege and protected employee talk in a [2026 note](https://technologylaw.fkks.com/post/102o455/selling-company-data-for-ai-training-what-to-know-before-you-say-yes).
- **Vendor terms.** Salesforce limited bulk export and AI use of Slack data pulled through its tools in 2025, per [Hunton](https://www.hunton.com/insights/legal/salesforce-locks-down-slack-data-time-to-review-your-slack-api-terms).
- **Who may approve.** In a bankruptcy or an ABC, the person who sells assets answers to creditors and sometimes a court. Your counsel knows the rule for your case.

Our [risks page](/risks) has more in plain words. We do not give legal advice.

## Signs your records may fit

Look for a few plain signs.

- The company had 30 or more staff. micro1 sets that floor, per [micro1's partnership page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships).
- The team used Slack, email, a CRM or a ticket system for years.
- Someone still holds the admin login, and the workspace has not been deleted.
- You are open to a short call before the deletion date.
- Customer contracts and employee notices can be pulled up fast.

_Admin login still works? Good. Glim cheers quietly._

You can run the [data check](/business) in about three minutes. It tells you if a longer conversation is worth it.

## What your wind-down team should check

Ask the attorney or shutdown service handling the close to check these before anything is deleted.

1. Auto-delete rules are off, if the law and any legal hold allow it.
2. Who may license or transfer the records in your case, and who must approve.
3. What employee and customer data sits in the archive, and what must come out first.
4. Which vendor terms and customer contracts limit sharing.

The best spot is early in the closing checklist, before the retention rules run. Our guide on [the records step](/partners/wind-down/the-data-line-item) shows how it fits.

## Where to start

Run the free [data check](/business) first. If the result looks worth a call, [send Matt a note](/contact). Then compare the buyers side by side on the [buyer comparison](/buyers). Your lawyer reads any contract before you sign.

## Questions owners ask

### Is licensing my records the same as selling the company's assets?

No. A data license rents records out for a time and under rules, and an asset sale transfers them. Ask your counsel which one a deal is, since the answer can change who must approve it.

### What if a trustee or assignee is running my company's close?

A records check may still help, but a trustee or assignee owes duties to your creditors. Vaultfish pays a fiduciary no referral fee, and your counsel and any court set the path.

### What if my company's records deletion date is next week?

Pause deletion if the law and your counsel allow it, then run the free Vaultfish data check. The first check takes about three minutes.

### What if no AI buyer wants my company's records?

Your company learns in a few minutes whether a closer look is worth it, and the Vaultfish data check is free. Many company records are worth little.

### Does my attorney have to handle the records?

No. You or your IT person handles access to the records. Your attorney never has to hand Vaultfish any files.

_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._