Guides · Published
How to Sell Your Company Data to AI Companies (2026)
Learn how a company can license its internal business records to AI companies, what to check first, what it pays, how long payment takes, and the next step.
Short answer
You do not sell the data outright. You license a copy of internal business records, such as support tickets, CRM history, SOPs, project files, code, CAD files or lab data, to a company that trains AI agents on them. You keep ownership, choose what is included, and approve every buyer. The fastest start is to inventory what you hold, remove names and identifiers, and then talk to a matching service or a broker about which buyers fit.
What counts as sellable data
Buyers in this market want operational records that show how work gets done. Typical examples:
- Support tickets and the replies that closed them
- CRM notes, deal histories and account records
- Standard operating procedures and internal wikis
- Project files, engineering tickets and code repositories
- CAD and BIM models, or lab and experiment records
Records you have stored for years and never use are the usual starting point. Their value to a buyer depends on how complete, consistent and well documented they are.
Before you talk to any buyer
Work through these checks first. They decide what you can offer.
- Confirm you have the rights. Check your contracts with customers, vendors and employees. Some records contain third-party material you cannot license.
- Remove personal and identifying data. Names, contact details and account IDs should come out before anything is shared. Records about health, payments or minors need extra care.
- Decide what is in scope. Pick specific systems or date ranges rather than a full dump. You can change the scope later.
- Get a rough sense of volume. Know how many years of records you have and which tools hold them, such as Zendesk, Jira or GitHub, Salesforce or HubSpot, Bullhorn, AutoCAD or Revit, and Benchling.
- Keep a legal review in the loop. Contract terms, licensing scope and data protection rules differ by company and by record type. Get advice from your own counsel before you sign.
Routes to a sale
| Route | What you do | Who pays | Typical trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct deal with an AI lab | Negotiate yourself | The lab | Needs in-house time and legal review for each deal |
| Data marketplace | List a dataset and let buyers bid | Usually the buyer, plus a cut taken by the marketplace | Less control over who sees what |
| Matching service (Smelted) | Approve a shortlist of buyers, then choose which to meet | The buyer pays Smelted's fee; you pay nothing | Fewer, better-matched conversations, with you in control |
Marketplaces and brokers differ in how they set prices and split revenue, so read each agreement closely.
What it pays and how long it takes
There is no single price. Market figures vary widely. According to Troveo, disclosed deals have run from about $10 million for a company archive to more than $250 million over five years for a major publisher. Those are headline deals for large rights holders, not a guide to what a mid-sized company should expect. Troveo also says it has paid out more than $20 million to over 7,000 rights holders across several data types, which shows that payouts are real but spread widely.
For Smelted specifically, a real number comes only after a buyer has reviewed a sample of your data. Before that, any figure is a guess. Payment timing also varies. Plan on one to three months from the first call to payment.
How Smelted works
Smelted is a free matching service for US companies. It lists your company anonymously for AI labs and data buyers. Here is the sequence:
- You tell Smelted what kind of records you hold and which tools they live in.
- Smelted finds buyers that fit and gives a ballpark range once a buyer has reviewed a sample.
- Smelted introduces you to two or three matching buyers.
- You choose what is included and which buyers you meet. You approve everything before a buyer sees it.
- The company keeps ownership and grants a license to a copy. Names, contact details and IDs are removed before anything is shared.
- The buyer pays Smelted's fee. Your company pays nothing.
It is built for owners, founders and C-level leaders at companies with roughly 50 to 500 employees, founded in 2022 or earlier. Core industries are staffing and recruiting, engineering and architecture, B2B software, and science labs and biotech R&D. Labs with 30 to 500 employees can also qualify.
Who this is not the right fit for
If your company has under 30 employees, be aware that the buyers who take smaller companies pay less. In that case, talk to Chris directly at 954-682-7560 so he can tell you what is realistic for your size.
If you are already in talks with another data buyer or marketplace, check for conflicts before adding a second route. Audio, voice and video datasets, and very large or unusual datasets, need a direct conversation rather than a standard intake.
Next step
If you have between 50 and 500 employees, or you are not sure of your size, the next step is the two-minute form at smelted.ai/get-started. Nothing is shared at that stage, and you approve everything before any buyer sees it. The form collects your headcount, tools and records history. If you have 75 or more employees, you can also book a 15-minute call at calendly.com/smelted/intro-call.
FAQ
How do I sell my data to AI companies?
First confirm you have the rights to license it and remove personal details. Then either negotiate directly with a buyer, list the data on a marketplace, or use a matching service that introduces you to buyers you approve. Most sellers license a copy rather than transfer ownership.
How much money do companies make selling data?
It varies enormously. Large publishers and archive owners have disclosed deals in the tens or hundreds of millions, as Troveo reports. Mid-sized companies should expect a figure only after a buyer has reviewed a sample of their records.
Is it illegal for companies to sell your data?
Selling data is not illegal in itself. The legal risk depends on what the data contains, where it came from and what your contracts allow. Records with personal information, health information or third-party material need a legal review before any license. Smelted cannot promise legal or compliance approval for your situation.
What is AI data licensing?
AI data licensing means granting a buyer permission to use a copy of your data to train or improve AI models, usually for a fee and under agreed terms. You keep ownership of the original records. The license defines what can be used, for how long and for what purpose.