What AI companies paid for company data in 2026
Reported prices for company archives in 2026 range from about $10,000 for a small shut-down startup to a $12.5 million bid for a bankrupt airline’s internal records. Below are the deals and figures reported this year, with sources, and what they suggest about which data sells.
Reported deals and prices
| Reported | Seller and buyer | What was licensed or sold | Reported figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 2026 | Shut-down startups, through SimpleClosure | Work archives such as Slack, Jira and email | Typically $10,000–$100,000 per company; nearly 100 deals in a year; over $1 million recovered for founders | Forbes |
| Apr 16, 2026 | cielo24 | 13 years of Slack messages, Jira tickets, email and Google Drive files | Hundreds of thousands of dollars | Forbes |
| Aug 17, 2026 | Spirit Airlines (in bankruptcy) to Google | De-identified employee email, Teams messages, spreadsheets, calendars and operations data | $10 million agreed; Mercor bid $7.5 million | Reuters |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Spirit Airlines | The same records | Court hearing delayed after the flight attendants’ union objected that linked datasets could let individuals be re-identified | ch-aviation |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Spirit Airlines | About 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams items, code and operational records | micro1 bid $12.5 million, above Google’s $10 million; no sale had court approval yet | Fortune |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Failed startups to Turing | Five to ten codebases | An average of tens of thousands of dollars each | Fortune |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Businesses to micro1’s data program | Approved data packages | Advertised at $100,000 to more than $2 million | Fortune |
The table reflects reports through September 14, 2026. A hearing on the Spirit sale was set for September 16; check the bankruptcy docket for the outcome.
What the prices suggest
- Scale and completeness drive price. A whole company’s communications and operating records drew eight-figure bids, while archives from small startups mostly sold in the five- to six-figure range.
- Single systems sell too. Codebases from failed startups have averaged tens of thousands of dollars each, according to Turing’s CEO.
- How data is prepared is now part of the deal. The objection that delayed the Spirit sale wasn’t about price. It was about whether de-identified records could be linked back to people.
- Published numbers lean toward distressed sales. Bankruptcy sales happen in public court filings. Licenses between operating companies and AI developers are usually confidential, so they rarely appear in the news.
What this means if you refer companies
- Companies with long histories and several connected systems (chat, tickets, code, documents) are the strongest referrals.
- Operating companies can license data without selling it or shutting down. Shutdowns get the headlines, but they aren’t the only source.
- For companies winding down, timing matters: archives disappear when tool subscriptions lapse. See the guide to shut-down startup data.
- SourceX pays up to $100,000 in referral fees on deals that close, after the buyer accepts the data and SourceX receives payment, under its referral terms in effect when you refer. See how the program works.
What these figures don’t tell you
There’s no standard price per record. Several figures above are bids or ranges rather than final amounts paid, and terms such as exclusivity, permitted use and preparation change what a buyer will pay. Treat them as reference points, not quotes for any particular company.
Questions
How much do AI companies pay for company data?
Reported 2026 figures range from about $10,000 to $100,000 for small shut-down startups’ archives, to tens of thousands of dollars per codebase, to bids of $7.5 million to $12.5 million for Spirit Airlines’ internal records.
Who buys company data for AI training?
AI labs and AI data companies. Buyers named in 2026 reporting include Google, micro1, Mercor and Turing.
Sources
- Forbes, “AI’s New Training Data: Your Old Work Slacks And Emails” (Anna Tong, April 16, 2026)
- Reuters, via The Star: report on Google’s $10 million deal for Spirit Airlines’ business data (August 17, 2026)
- ch-aviation: report on the court delaying Google’s purchase of Spirit’s business data (August 24, 2026)
- Fortune, “Google wants Spirit Airlines’ data. Micro1 wants to pay more” (Wen Shao, September 14, 2026)
Know a company with years of records?
Introduce the company to SourceX. If its data deal closes, you can earn up to $100,000 in referral fees, paid after the buyer accepts the data and SourceX receives payment.