# AI Data Payout

> AI companies pay businesses to license copies of their old email, chat and files. We compare the buyers so owners can pick the right one, and we rank the data companies AI teams hire and the platforms that pay experts. Every fact carries a source and a retrieved date. Scores follow a published methodology and commissions never change them. We feature, match and link out to the companies we have referral agreements with; every other company stays in the directory with its full review.

Last updated: 14 Oct 2026. Scoring version 0.1. Contact: info@trainerlist.ai.

## Best places to sell your company's data

- [Full ranking](https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data)
- 1. [micro1](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/micro1): 7.7/10. Best for: US companies with 30+ staff and years of documented operations.
- 2. [Polyshares](https://polyshares.com/): 7.4/10. Best for: Sellers who want a third party to scrub personal data first.
- 3. [Mercor](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/mercor): 7.1/10. Best for: Companies that want fast payment and no fees.
- 4. [Nyne AI](https://nyne.ai/): 7.0/10. Best for: US companies with 20+ W-2 staff and 3+ years of finance and CRM records.
- 5. [Mode](https://ai.mode.inc/): 6.8/10. Best for: US offices with 20+ full-time staff (accounting firms 10+, law firms 6+) and several years of records.
- 6. [Pewter](https://pewterdata.com/): 6.4/10. Best for: US firms with 20+ staff and 3+ years of records that want someone to run the deal.
- 7. [Grepped](https://grepped.ai/): 6.3/10. Best for: Companies of any size that want read-only access and to choose exactly which systems are included.
- 8. [SimpleClosure](https://simpleclosure.com/): 6.1/10. Best for: Startups that have shut down or are winding down.
- 9. [Troveo](https://www.troveo.ai/): 5.8/10. Best for: Sellers who want to license, not sell, and share in ongoing revenue.
- 10. [Ventra](https://joinventra.com/): 5.7/10. Best for: US companies with 30+ staff and 3+ years of records, outside legal, healthcare, finance and accounting.

## Best human-data vendors for AI teams

- [Full ranking](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors)
- 1. [Handshake AI](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/handshake-ai): 7.9/10. Best for: Labs that want to draw on a large career network.
- 2. [Mercor](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/mercor): 7.4/10. Best for: Labs buying expert data at the largest scale on the market.
- 3. [Appen](https://www.appen.com/): 7.4/10. Best for: Buyers who want a listed company with public financials.
- 4. [micro1](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/micro1): 7.4/10. Best for: Labs that also want licensed company data alongside expert work.
- 5. [Prolific](https://www.prolific.com/): not enough public data. Best for: Teams that need human participants for research and evaluation.
- 6. [Scale AI](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/scale-ai): not enough public data. Best for: Teams with no competitive overlap with Meta.
- 7. [Snorkel AI](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/snorkel-ai): not enough public data. Best for: Enterprise teams that want a funded, established data partner.
- 8. [Surge AI](https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/surge-ai): not enough public data. Best for: Labs that want a large vendor with no outside owners.
- 9. [Turing](https://www.turing.com/): not enough public data. Best for: Labs buying coding data.
- 10. [Invisible Technologies](https://invisibletech.ai/): not enough public data. Best for: Teams comparing alternatives to Scale AI.
- 11. [Toloka](https://toloka.ai/): not enough public data. Best for: Teams comparing independent data vendors.

## Best AI training platforms for experts

- [Full ranking](https://www.aidatapayout.com/work)
- 1. [Handshake AI](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/): not enough public data. Best for: People already on the Handshake career network.
- 2. [Mercor](https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/mercor): not enough public data. Best for: Professionals who want hourly expert contracts with AI labs.
- 3. [micro1](https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/micro1): not enough public data. Best for: Experts and professionals open to project-based AI work.
- 4. [Outlier](https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/outlier): not enough public data. Best for: Generalists and specialists who want task-based AI training work.
- 5. [Surge AI](https://www.surgehq.ai/): not enough public data. Best for: Writers and specialists who apply through DataAnnotation.

## Pages

- https://www.aidatapayout.com/
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/worth
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/get-offers
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/micro1
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/mercor
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/scale-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/surge-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/handshake-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/snorkel-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/work
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/mercor
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/micro1
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/outlier
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/compare/surge-ai-vs-scale-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/compare/mercor-vs-micro1
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/alternatives/scale-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/match
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/vendors/compare
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/get-matched
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/compare
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/work/match
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/reviews
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/reviews/new
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/faq
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/alerts
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/for-companies
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/contact
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/resources
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/corrections
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/tracker
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/methodology
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/disclosure
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/about
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/privacy
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/logistics
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/consulting
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/marketing-agencies
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/law-firms
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/cpa-firms
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/law-firms/filevine-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/cpa-firms/karbon-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/bookkeeping/quickbooks-online-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/construction/procore-data
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/home-services/servicetitan-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/home-services/jobber-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/property-management/appfolio-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/property-management/buildium-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/staffing/bullhorn-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/industries/ecommerce/shopify-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/slack-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/microsoft-teams-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/google-workspace-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/microsoft-365-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/salesforce-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/hubspot-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/zendesk-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/jira-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/confluence-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/notion-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/how-much-do-ai-companies-pay
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/ai-data-brokers
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/sell-to-openai-anthropic
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/micro1
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/mercor
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/simpleclosure
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/micro1-legit
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/nyne
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/polyshares
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/hilco
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/troveo
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/data-specialists
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/endless
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/pewter
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/license-my-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/sunset
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/goldmined
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/ventra
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/jottings
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/ai-input
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/cognor-labs
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/vms
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/data-value-check
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/monsterdata
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/return-my-time
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/clova-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/your-data-value
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/nalandadata
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/datafactor
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/fileyield
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/grepped
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/buyers/mode
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/micro1-vs-mercor
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/micro1-vs-nyne
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/nyne-vs-polyshares
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/micro1-vs-simpleclosure
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/mercor-vs-nyne
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/micro1-vs-polyshares
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/mercor-vs-polyshares
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/simpleclosure-vs-sunset
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/nyne-vs-troveo
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/jottings-vs-your-data-value
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/pewter-vs-license-my-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/compare/micro1-vs-goldmined
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/before-you-shred
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/book-of-business-vs-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/check-a-buyer
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/closed-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/company-data-worth/calculator
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/company-data-worth/what-drives-price
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/company-data-worth
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/competitors
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/customers-find-out
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/employees
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/english-and-location
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/exclude-folders
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/facebook-lead-form
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/first-call
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/how-many-employees
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/how-many-years-of-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/industries/dental-medical
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/industries/msp-it
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/industries/retail
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/industries/trucking
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/is-it-a-scam
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/keep-your-company
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/license-again
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/license-vs-sell
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/news/spirit-airlines-google
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/old-files
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/old-server
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/payments/one-time-or-recurring
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/process
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/record-retention
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/records/call-recordings
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/records/codebase
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/retiring-owner
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/sell-company-data-to-ai
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/selling-your-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/sensitive-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/should-i
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/team-time
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/timeline
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/under-20-employees
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/upfront-fees
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/what-ai-companies-want
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/what-happens-after
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/what-is-a-data-partnership
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/small-business/without-a-broker
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/spirit-airlines-data-sale
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/spirit-airlines-data-sale-timeline
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/who-bought-spirit-airlines-data
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/data-sale-cases
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/customer-data-in-bankruptcy
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/consumer-privacy-ombudsman
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/for-restructuring-advisors
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/for-bankruptcy-attorneys
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/sell-slack-teams-archive
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/sell-email-archive
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/vendor-data-ownership-claims
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/chapter-7-vs-chapter-11
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/assignment-for-benefit-of-creditors
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/liquidation
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/subchapter-v
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/bankruptcy/business-bankruptcy-filings-2026
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/after-acquisition
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/bizbuysell-sellers
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/buyers-for-companies-being-sold
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/carve-outs-legacy-systems
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/client-list-vs-data-license
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/customer-database
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/data-license-in-due-diligence
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/data-room-ai-license
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/does-data-add-to-sale-price
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/for-business-brokers
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/for-m-and-a-advisors
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/insurance-agency
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/insurance-book-of-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/license-data-before-you-sell
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/private-equity-roll-ups
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/retiring-owner
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/saas-acquire-flippa
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-bookkeeping-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-construction-company
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-consulting-firm
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-cpa-firm
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-dental-practice
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-engineering-firm
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- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-hvac-business
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-law-practice
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-logistics-company
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-marketing-agency
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-medical-practice
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-msp
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-physical-therapy-practice
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-property-management-company
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-software-dev-agency
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-staffing-agency
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-tax-practice
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-trucking-company
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/sell-vet-practice
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/tax-questions-data-income
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/selling-your-business/vendors-sold-or-bankrupt
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/how-long-to-keep-business-records-after-closing
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/dispose-of-old-business-records
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/keep-workspace-alive
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/winding-down-checklist
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/previous-company-data
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/peak-headcount
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/million-dollar-data-offers
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/what-dead-company-data-sells-for
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/simpleclosure-alternatives
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/sell-codebase
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/sell-failed-startup-assets
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/shutting-down-your-startup
- https://www.aidatapayout.com/sell-your-data/closing-your-company/for-vcs-portfolio-wind-downs

## Data

- [Ranking with sources, JSON](https://www.aidatapayout.com/data/companies.json)

## Terms we use

- [Company data partnership](https://www.aidatapayout.com/insights/business-data-ai-glossary): a deal in which an AI company or data buyer pays a business to license copies of its internal work records, such as emails, chat messages, documents and job files, to train or test AI, while the business keeps its originals and its company.
- [AI data payout](https://www.aidatapayout.com/insights/ai-data-payout): the money a business receives for licensing its internal records, such as emails, documents, tickets and job files, to an AI company or data buyer, before any broker's or marketplace's fee is taken off.
- [Data licensing for small business](https://www.aidatapayout.com/insights/sell-my-business-data): licensing copies of a small or mid-sized business's everyday work records, such as emails, job files, quotes and SOPs, to AI data buyers for a fee, while the owner keeps the business and the original records.

## Questions we answer

- What is a human data vendor? A human data vendor supplies the people whose judgments, answers and corrections are used to train and test AI models. Some, like Mercor, sell expert work to AI labs at very large scale. Others, like micro1, also license operating data from companies. This site ranks both kinds for the reader each one serves.
- Which AI training data companies are largest by revenue? Mercor is the largest by reported figures, with a gross run rate above $2B in June 2026. Surge AI's 2024 revenue is reported at $1B to $1.2B, and Handshake's gross ARR at about $1.15B. micro1 reported a $500M gross run rate in August 2026, Snorkel $375M, and Prolific about $350M by an outside estimate.
- How are companies ranked on this site? Each audience has its own published rubric of five weighted criteria, and every sub-score cites the facts behind it. A score appears only when we can evidence at least 35% of the rubric's weight; otherwise the card says there is not enough public data. Commissions never enter the calculation.
- Do companies pay to be listed or ranked? Not to be listed or scored. Every company we review stays in the directory with a score from the same published method, and no one can pay to change a score or a review. We do feature the companies we have referral agreements with: they get the featured block, the homepage cards, the quiz matches and the outbound links. Each agreement is disclosed by name.
- Is our data safe with a vendor that serves rival labs? Ownership is the first thing to check. Meta has held 49% of Scale AI since June 2025, which matters to any lab that competes with Meta. Surge AI says it has never taken outside funding, so no lab owns part of it. Ask every vendor for its owners, its SOC 2 report and its incident history before a pilot.
- Which AI data vendors have had security incidents? Mercor confirmed a cyberattack on 31 March 2026, tied to the compromise of the open-source LiteLLM project, and several class actions were filed in the Northern District of California on 1 April. Mercor later called the affected data a very limited subset. No reliable count of affected people has been published.
- Which vendors are SOC 2 certified? Mercor states a SOC 2 Type II attestation on its data page. None of the other companies in our current sources publishes one where we could check it. That does not mean they lack one: ask each vendor for its report under NDA, and treat a refusal as a signal.
- Is Scale AI owned by Meta? Meta owns 49% of Scale AI, under a June 2025 deal reported at $14.3B to $15B, and Scale's founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta. Reports say Meta's stake carries no voting rights. Scale said the investment valued it above $29B.
- Are Outlier and Remotasks part of Scale AI? Yes. Outlier says it is operated by Scale AI, and Remotasks says it is powered and backed by Scale AI. Both are worker platforms, so anyone working on them is working within the company that is 49% owned by Meta.
- What are the best Scale AI alternatives? For labs avoiding Meta's 49% stake, the largest independent options by reported revenue are Mercor (above $2B gross run rate), Surge AI ($1B to $1.2B in 2024, no outside investors) and Handshake AI (about $1.15B gross ARR). Turing reported about $300M ARR. Check each one's ownership, security record and pilot terms.
- Is DataAnnotation.tech owned by Surge AI? DataAnnotation.tech is reported to be a Surge AI subsidiary, including by TIME in 2024, but its own website does not name Surge. We show this as reported rather than confirmed.
- Is Surge AI bigger than Scale AI? On revenue we cannot say from public sources, because Scale AI has no reported run rate in our sources. Surge AI's 2024 revenue is reported at $1B to $1.2B, and it is profitable. Scale is the more valuable company on paper, at above $29B in its own figure after Meta's investment.
- Has Surge AI raised outside funding? No. Surge AI says it has never raised outside funding, and Reuters reported it as profitable with more than $1B in 2024 revenue. Having no outside investors also means no AI lab owns part of it.
- What has Mercor acquired? Mercor acquired Sepal AI, announced in February 2026 by its counsel Orrick, and Deeptune, reported in July 2026 by SiliconANGLE. Deeptune builds training environments for AI agents.
- What are Mercor's revenue and valuation? Mercor passed a $2B gross run rate in June 2026, according to Dealroom citing The Information. It was valued at $10B after a $350M Series C in October 2025. Both figures come from press reports, not from Mercor's own filings.
- micro1 or Mercor for an enterprise buyer? Mercor is about four times larger by reported gross run rate, above $2B against micro1's $500M, but it confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026. micro1 has no reported incidents in our sources and publishes its program terms in full. Neither publishes vetting or quality metrics, so run a paid pilot with both.
- What is Handshake AI? Handshake AI is the AI training business of the Handshake career network, run as the paid Handshake AI Fellowship. Dealroom, citing The Information, put Handshake's total gross ARR at about $1.15B in April 2026, with the AI training unit near $1B.
- Can my company sell its data to AI labs? Yes, and in 2026 it became a real market. micro1 committed $1B over 12 months to licensing company data, Mercor and Polyshares buy Slack, email, CRM and ticket history, and labs are buying the archives of startups that shut down. Each buyer reviews with you what can be licensed and how personal data is handled.
- How much do buyers pay for company data? Published ranges mostly run $100K to $2M, as the buyers' own claims: micro1 and Polyshares state $100K to $2M+, Ventra $100K to $2M and Mode $100K to $5M, and Nyne says $100K or more. Mercor does not publish a range. For a sense of the top end, Google bid $10M for Spirit Airlines' archive against Mercor's $7.5M.
- What company data do AI buyers want? Buyers want records of real work: Slack and Teams messages, email, docs and wikis, CRM and ticket history, code, calls, and finance and project data. micro1 lists SOPs, knowledge bases and project history; Mercor lists Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, GitHub and 100+ other tools; Nyne buys QuickBooks, NetSuite, HubSpot and Jira data.
- Can you tell me if selling our data is legal? No. We do not answer legal questions, and nothing on this site is legal advice. Ask the licensing company: buyers such as micro1 and Polyshares review what can be licensed with you and say how personal data is removed before anything is transferred. Bring your own counsel into that conversation.
- How fast do company-data buyers pay? Most buyers pay within 2-8 weeks of signing: Mercor says 2-4 weeks, Cognor Labs puts its process at 3-6 weeks, and Polyshares, Ventra and Your Data Value 30 to 60 days. Some pay only after they accept the data: micro1 has 30 business days to reject a delivery, and you invoice after written acceptance. Offers usually come sooner, from 3-7 days at Ventra to 1-2 weeks at Polyshares.
- Can a startup that has shut down still sell its data? Yes. Wind-down services sell the archives of closed startups to AI labs, and SimpleClosure had passed 150 such deals by April 2026, typically worth $10K to $100K each. MIT Technology Review reported in October 2026 that labs are actively buying this data.
- What is my company's data worth? Published ranges run from $10K to $100K for a closed startup to $100K to $2M+ for an operating company, with over $1M for unique data. Large archives go higher: Google bid $10M for Spirit Airlines' archive. Headcount, years of history and records that link across systems push the value up.
- Do you earn a fee if my company sells data through your link? Sometimes. micro1's company referral terms set a default 7.5% of the license price; Pewter and Grepped pay us 10% of what the business is paid, up to $100,000; Polyshares pays us 6% of eligible deals; Mode the greater of $50,000 or 6% on our first deals; and Ventra $10,000 per company that signs. We feature and match only buyers we have referral agreements with. The buyer pays the fee, not you, and no fee changes a score or a review.
- Are AI training jobs legit? The large platforms are real businesses with real revenue. Mercor reported a run rate above $2B, Handshake's AI training unit nearly $1B and micro1 $500M gross. Apply only through each company's official site, and check its incident history before you hand over personal documents.
- Which AI training platform pays the most? We do not publish a pay ranking yet, because we will only score pay from a public index of job listings and that index is still being built. Until it is published, pay scores on this site show as not enough public data rather than a guess.
- Is Mercor legit? Yes, Mercor is a large, funded company: it was valued at $10B in October 2025 and reported a gross run rate above $2B in June 2026. It also confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026, tied to the LiteLLM compromise, and several class actions followed.
- How does the Mercor referral program work? Mercor pays 20% of what the person you refer earns, up to a cap that its referrals page puts between $250 and $15,000 per referral depending on the role. The bonus comes from Mercor, not from the person you refer.
- Is micro1 legit? Yes, micro1 is a large, funded company. It raised $100M+ at a $4B valuation in September 2026 and reported a $500M gross run rate in August 2026. It also runs a talent referral program paying up to $3,000 per successful referral, which is published on its own site.
- Is Outlier legit? Yes. Outlier is operated by Scale AI, one of the best known AI data companies, which Meta part-owns at 49%. It runs a contributor referral program, though it does not publish the bonus amount.
- How does the Handshake AI referral bonus work? Handshake pays 10% of the referred fellow's hourly rate, for up to 40 hours, over 6 months. At $50 an hour that is 0.10 x 50 x 40 = $200 at most per referral.
- Mercor or micro1: which pays more? We cannot say yet from public evidence. Neither platform publishes standard rates, and our pay index from public job listings is not out yet. What we can compare: Mercor is larger by reported run rate, and micro1's referral bonus is published at up to $3,000.