Prices
What AI companies pay businesses for their data
If your business is still trading, the buyers that put a number in writing mostly say $100K to $2M (their own figures). Startups that have closed have mainly fetched $10K to $100K. The nine-figure headline deals belong to publishers, which is a separate market.
01
What buyers quote operating companies
Published range
$100K to $2M+ per data package
Notes
Over $1M reserved for unique data
Published range
$100K to $2M+
Notes
Offer in 1 to 2 weeks
Published range
$100K to $5M
Notes
Launched October 2026
Published range
$100K to $2M potential deals
Notes
Offers in 3 to 7 days
Published range
$100K or more
Notes
Says it will try to beat written offers
Published range
$20K to $1.5M by industry
Notes
Wire 2 to 4 weeks after signing
Cognor Labs
Published range
$100K to $2M, or $200K to $2M on some pages
Notes
Ranges differ across its pages
| Buyer | Published range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| micro1 | $100K to $2M+ per data package | Over $1M reserved for unique data |
| Polyshares | $100K to $2M+ | Offer in 1 to 2 weeks |
| Mode | $100K to $5M | Launched October 2026 |
| Ventra | $100K to $2M potential deals | Offers in 3 to 7 days |
| Nyne | $100K or more | Says it will try to beat written offers |
| Mercor | $20K to $1.5M by industry | Wire 2 to 4 weeks after signing |
| Cognor Labs | $100K to $2M, or $200K to $2M on some pages | Ranges differ across its pages |
Pewter quotes two unnamed examples from its licensing partner: $350,000 to an accounting firm with 60 staff, and $650,000 to a freight brokerage with 100.
02
What whole archives have sold for
Spirit Airlines (roughly 100M emails and 500M Teams messages)
$10M bid by Google against Mercor's $7.5M; micro1 later bid $12.5M
Cielo24 (Slack, Jira and email across 13 years)
A reported six-figure sum
Crypto startup (shut down)
Roughly $25,000 for its code, plus roughly $15,000 for workspace data
150+ wound-down startups via SimpleClosure
Typically $10K to $100K each
| Archive | Reported price |
|---|---|
| Spirit Airlines (roughly 100M emails and 500M Teams messages) | $10M bid by Google against Mercor's $7.5M; micro1 later bid $12.5M |
| Cielo24 (Slack, Jira and email across 13 years) | A reported six-figure sum |
| Crypto startup (shut down) | Roughly $25,000 for its code, plus roughly $15,000 for workspace data |
| 150+ wound-down startups via SimpleClosure | Typically $10K to $100K each |
03
What labs pay large publishers
Those famous deals involve publishers and big platforms. They prove labs pay heavily for text they can't find elsewhere, but they say little about what your business would get.
Reddit, all data licensing
$203M aggregate contract value over 2 to 3 years
Reddit and Google
About $60M a year
OpenAI with News Corp
$250M+ across five years
OpenAI with Axel Springer
Roughly $13M annually
Financial Times and OpenAI
$5M to $10M a year
Wiley
$23M with an unnamed technology company
| Deal | Reported value |
|---|---|
| Reddit, all data licensing | $203M aggregate contract value over 2 to 3 years |
| Reddit and Google | About $60M a year |
| OpenAI with News Corp | $250M+ across five years |
| OpenAI with Axel Springer | Roughly $13M annually |
| Financial Times and OpenAI | $5M to $10M a year |
| Wiley | $23M with an unnamed technology company |
04
What moves you up the range
No buyer publishes a formula, but all ask about headcount, years of records and the tools you use. Repeated work, linked records and rare trades push the number up; sensitive data and client-held records pull it down. An offer usually comes within days to two weeks, and payment around three to six weeks after signing.
FAQ
Questions, answered
What do AI companies typically pay for a company's records?
For businesses still trading, buyers' advertised bands cluster around $100K to $2M (self-reported). Closed startups have usually sold for $10K to $100K.
Why are publisher deals so much bigger?
They cover huge volumes of unique text and ongoing access. A business archive is far smaller.
Is $10M realistic for my company?
No. That was a bid for an airline's archive in bankruptcy.
See what your data could be worth
A rough range from published deals and buyer price bands, based on headcount and years of records.
Keep reading
Sources
Every number on this page links back to one of these.
- 1micro1, company referral program pagemicro1.ai
- 2Polyshares, company websitepolyshares.com
- 3Mode, company data programdata.mode.inc
- 4Ventra, company data programjoinventra.com
- 5Nyne, sell company datanyne.ai
- 6Mercor, data partnerships pagemercor.com
- 7Cognor Labs, manufacturing datacognorlabs.com
- 8Pewter, company websitepewterdata.com
- 9Bloomberg Law, Google aims to boost AI with purchase of Spirit Airlines datanews.bloomberglaw.com
- 10Fortune, micro1 bids $12.5M for Spirit Airlines datafortune.com
- 11Forbes, AI's new training data: your old work Slacks and emailsforbes.com
- 12MIT Technology Review, AI labs buying data from dead startupstechnologyreview.com
- 13TechCrunch, Reddit says it has made $203M licensing its datatechcrunch.com
- 14Quartz, AI training data pricing and licensing dealsqz.com
- 15Fortune, publishing giants strike deals with AI companiesfortune.com
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