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AI Data Payout

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How much do AI companies pay for business data? Real deals so far

Reported deals so far run from about $25,000 for a closed startup's code to a $12.5M bid for Spirit Airlines' internal archive. Most deals with a name attached involve closed or bankrupt companies. For operating businesses, buyers quote $100K-$2M+, but almost no payout to a named company has been published.1,2,3,4

By Lead analyst (to be named) · reviewed by Reviewing editor (to be named) · published 14 Oct 2026 · updated 14 Oct 2026

Deals reported by the press or in court

These are the deals with outside evidence behind them: a court docket or a named news report. We list the highest first.5,6

  1. Spirit Airlines, 2026: micro1 filed a $12.5M cash bid after the auction. Google won the August auction at $10.0M, and Mercor stands as the alternate bidder at $7.5M. The sale is not approved; the hearing is set for 2026-11-06.2,5,7
  2. Nikola, 2025: Hilco sold the truck maker's IP in its bankruptcy, including software and data analytics, for $1.4 million. That was a wider IP sale, not a pure data deal.8
  3. Cielo24: sold 13 years of Slack, Jira and email for what was reported as hundreds of thousands of dollars.6
  4. SimpleClosure's closed startups: over 150 data deals, typically $10K-$100K each.9
  5. A closed crypto startup: about $25,000 for its code base, with about $15,000 for its workspace data still pending.1

Payouts buyers and brokers say they made

Everything in this group is the company's own claim. None names the business that was paid or the AI buyer, and we could not check any of them.10,11

  1. Shfa.ai: says one healthcare customer was paid $943,000.12
  2. Pewter: says a 100-person freight broker got $650K and a 70-person engineering firm $450K.13,14
  3. Pewter: says a 60-person accounting firm was paid $350,000.10
  4. Goldmined: an ad says a distribution company owner made $290K licensing 10 years of records.15
  5. Jottings: says an owner licensed data for $173,163.11
  6. Polyshares: lists a $110,000 license for a global marketing agency.16

A warning sign in the claimed deals

Two different sites show the same example deals. VMS and Cognor Labs both display a $1.6M Midwest freight brokerage paid out in 72 hours and a $1.4M Ohio CNC shop paid in 10 days, word for word. When two companies claim the same deal, treat both claims with care.17,18

A headline from The Information said data labeling startups were paying HVAC companies $150,000 for data. The article is paywalled, and we could not confirm whether that was a data license, labeling work or both. So it stays off our list of deals.19

The ceiling: what AI labs pay big publishers

The largest data deals are not with businesses like yours. Reddit disclosed $203.0M in data licensing contracts. News Corp's deal with OpenAI was reported at more than $250M over 5 years. HarperCollins offered authors $5,000 per book. These show how much labs value unique text, not what a 40-person firm will be offered.20,21,22

For the full price ranges by buyer, see our guide to what AI companies pay. This post sticks to deals that actually happened, or that someone says happened.3

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Real money has changed hands: SimpleClosure alone reports over 150 data deals.9
  • Buyers bid against each other when an archive is big enough, as in the Spirit auction.5,2
  • Even small closed companies have been paid, starting around $25,000.1

Cons

  • Almost no operating business has been named as paid, so the $100K-$2M quotes are untested in public.3,23,24
  • The biggest deal, Spirit, is still waiting for court approval.7
  • Some advertised payouts repeat word for word across different companies' sites.17

What it means for a business like yours

If you run a 30-80 person business, the honest benchmark today is the buyers' own quotes: over $100K for a qualified deal at micro1, $100K-$2M at Ventra and Cognor Labs, $100K-$250K at Jottings for specialized histories. Nobody has published a check to a named HVAC shop or accounting firm yet.25,23,24,26

Use claimed deals as a rough guide, not a promise. If a buyer or broker shows you an example, ask whether you can speak to that company. Ask for your own offer in writing before you share any files.27,28

Should your business get in now?

Many businesses like yours are already licensing their records to these firms. micro1 has committed $1B over 12 months to buying company data. At least 18 brokers started advertising for business data between September and mid-October 2026. SimpleClosure has done over 150 data deals, and Google bid $10M for Spirit Airlines' archive, though the court has not ruled on that sale yet.29,30,9,31

Buyers also publish deals by industry. Polyshares, for example, lists a $110,000 license for a marketing agency. That is its own claim, like every payout a buyer or broker publishes about itself.16

Our view, not a promise: the money will not be around forever. AI labs are racing to buy now, budgets are concentrated in today's build-out, and as more businesses sell, prices tend to come down. There is no deadline, but waiting has a cost.29,32

It is not for everyone

Think twice if any of these sound like you:

  • Most of your records are client files you hold in confidence.33
  • Your team would feel their messages were sold out from under them.34
  • Your data is regulated or sensitive, which buyers ask about up front.35
  • Your archive is small: most buyers want 20-30+ staff and a few years of records.36,37,38,39
  • You cannot spare the weeks a deal takes.40,41,42
  • You are not comfortable losing control of how a licensed copy is used.43

Next step

Take the quiz to see which firms fit your business. Then talk to the brokerages: they can answer the questions unique to your business. Legal questions go to the licensing companies.

Take the quizWho the brokerages are

We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. How we earn.

FAQ

Questions, answered with sources

  • Reported deals run from about $25,000 for a closed startup's code to a $12.5M bid for Spirit Airlines' archive. Published ranges for operating companies mostly run $100K to $2M, the buyers' own claims.1,2,3,23,24

  • Spirit Airlines' internal archive. Google won the auction at $10.0M and micro1 later bid $12.5M. The court has not approved the sale.5,2,7

  • Several are claimed but none named. Pewter says a 60-person accounting firm got $350,000; Jottings says an owner got $173,163.10,11

  • Typically $10K-$100K through SimpleClosure. One crypto startup got about $25,000 for its code base.9,1

  • The Information ran that headline, but the article is paywalled and we could not confirm whether it was a data license or labeling work.19

  • VMS and Cognor Labs display the same example cards word for word, including a $1.6M Midwest freight brokerage. Neither names the company.17,18

  • Reddit disclosed $203.0M in aggregate data licensing contracts, and Reuters reported Google pays it about $60M a year.20,44

  • Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.

Before you sign

Questions to talk through with your buyer

Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.

Questions for this kind of business

  • How is the payment taxed?

Questions for any buyer

  • Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
  • Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
  • Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
  • How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
  • What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
  • Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
  • Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?

How this page was made

Figures come from the published sources listed below, and what a buyer says about itself is its own claim. Anything marked as our estimate is ours, not a buyer quote. Drafted with AI help from our research, then checked against each source. Not yet reviewed by a person, so search engines are asked not to index it. Updated October 2026.

We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. See how we earn and how we rank. This site does not give legal, tax or financial advice.

Sources (44)

  1. 1.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  2. 2.Chapter11Cases (Stretto) docket report on the Spirit data sale, published 13 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Chapter11Cases (Stretto) docket report on the Spirit data sale, published 13 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  6. 6.AI Weekly, summarising Forbes (16 Apr 2026). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  7. 7.Skift, published 12 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  8. 8.Hilco Global Nikola listing. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.Forbes, published 16 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  10. 10.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.Meta Ad Library, Jottings AI. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.Shfa.ai website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  13. 13.Pewter. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.Pewter. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Meta Ad Library, Goldmined.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.Polyshares track record page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.VMS manufacturing page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  18. 18.Cognor Labs website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.The Information (headline only). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  20. 20.TechCrunch (Reddit S-1), published 22 Feb 2024. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  21. 21.Quartz. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  22. 22.Publishers Weekly, published 25 Nov 2024. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  23. 23.Ventra company data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  24. 24.Cognor Labs partners page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  25. 25.micro1 data partnerships page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  26. 26.Jottings how we get paid page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  27. 27.SimpleClosure, How Real Are Those Million-Dollar Data Offers?, published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  28. 28.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  29. 29.The Next Web, published 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  30. 30.Meta Ad Library (our review). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  31. 31.Bloomberg Law, published 17 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  32. 32.TechCrunch, published 16 Sep 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  33. 33.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  34. 34.Slashdot discussion, published 18 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  35. 35.micro1 data payout estimator. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  36. 36.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  37. 37.Nyne sell-company-data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  38. 38.Cognor Labs partners page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  39. 39.Return My Time Sell My Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  40. 40.RemoWork, published 29 Jun 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  41. 41.Your Data Value website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  42. 42.Cognor Labs manufacturing page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  43. 43.micro1 Data License Master Terms, published 7 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  44. 44.TechCrunch, published 22 Feb 2024. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.