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AI Data Payout

Updated October 2026

Record retention and AI data licensing: two different clocks

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

There are two clocks. Yours decides how long you must keep records, and that is a question for your accountant and the licensing company, not us. The buyer's decides how long it keeps the copy you license: Nyne's ads say raw files are deleted within 30 days, and micro1 describes a 60-day default.1,2

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Your clock

How long you keep records

Owners search this constantly: "how long to keep business records after closing" returns 5 autocomplete variants on Google. The answer depends on the record type, your industry and where you operate, and we do not give it. Ask your accountant and attorney, and ask the licensing company to confirm nothing in the deal conflicts with what you must keep.3

What you license is a copy, and the originals stay in your systems: the AI Data page puts it as "One copy licensed, every original stays with you". Whether licensing a copy touches any retention duty is one of the questions to put to the licensing company.4

Their clock

How long the buyer keeps your copy

Buyers describe short windows for raw files. Nyne's ads say raw files are deleted within 30 days. micro1's video describes a 60-day default retention, with the company reviewing scrubbed samples. The cleaned, processed version is what trains models, and may be kept far longer, depending on the license.1,2

Ask three questions. How long do you keep the raw export? How long do you keep the cleaned dataset? What happens to both when the license ends? Get deletion confirmed in writing. Ask too what happens to your data if the buyer is acquired or closes. Frankfurt Kurnit raises the same risk for the software vendors that hold your data, which may sell it when they are acquired, shut down or file for bankruptcy.5

Timing

Where the two clocks meet

The moment your retention period ends is often the moment records get destroyed. That is also the last chance to license them. Supersoniq's ads lean on exactly this: "Don't shred those files yet". The Nyne AI page says "Get a quote before anything gets wiped".6,7

If you are closing the business, the clocks matter more. micro1's closed-company ads ask about staff at the company's peak, and SimpleClosure handles data deals for companies that are winding down. What a closed company must keep, and for how long, goes to your advisers.8,9

FAQ

Questions, answered with sources

  • Nyne's ads say raw files are deleted within 30 days; micro1 describes a 60-day default retention. The cleaned dataset may be kept longer under the license.1,2

  • Licensing hands over a copy; the originals stay with you, as the AI Data page puts it. How long you keep them is set by your own rules and advisers.4

  • Ask for it in writing. Nyne's ads promise deletion within 30 days, and Frankfurt Kurnit's checklist tells sellers to negotiate use restrictions.1,5

  • It is often the last chance. Supersoniq's ads say "Don't shred those files yet" and the Nyne AI page pitches quotes before anything is wiped.6,7

  • Some buyers say so. micro1 runs ads for companies that had 25+ employees at their peak, and SimpleClosure does data deals for wound-down companies.8,9

  • We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company: their team reviews this with you before anything is signed.

Before you sign

Legal questions go to the licensing company

We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company before you sign: their team reviews these with you.

Questions for this kind of business

  • Does licensing a copy of records under a retention requirement create any conflict with that requirement?
  • Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
  • Which proceeding fits: an ABC, Chapter 7, Chapter 11 or a dissolution?

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

Every figure comes from a published source listed below, each with the date we checked it. Buyer statements are the buyer's own claims and are marked so in the source list. Firm counts come from the US Census Bureau's Statistics of US Businesses. Anything marked as our estimate is ours, not a buyer quote.

Drafted with AI assistance from our research files, then checked against each source. Reviewed 14 Oct 2026. Last updated 14 Oct 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 (9)

  1. 1.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  2. 2.Summary of micro1's video. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.Google autocomplete (our check). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  4. 4.Meta Ad Library, AI Data. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  6. 6.Meta Ad Library, Supersoniq, published 14 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Meta Ad Library, Nyne AI, published 16 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.Meta Ad Library, micro1, published 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.Forbes, published 16 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.