AI labs are paying companies for their Slack history.
micro1, an AI data lab, has committed $1 billion over the next 12 months to license real work data from companies: years of Slack or Teams conversations, SOPs, playbooks and support tickets. Companies that have shut down qualify too.
See if your company qualifies →Free fit check on micro1's own site. It takes a few minutes, and you're not committing to anything.
* micro1 sets every payout itself, "based on data sources, volume, quality, access terms, and due diligence." Not every company qualifies, and nothing here is a promise of a specific amount.
What micro1's own estimator shows
Examples from micro1's public payout estimator for US-headquartered companies. Pick the one closest to yours:
Recorded from micro1's estimator on October 17, 2026. In micro1's words: "Indicative estimate only. Final payout is determined based on data sources, volume, quality, access terms, and due diligence." These are micro1's figures, not a promise from me, and your company's number can be higher, lower, or zero.
Get your company's real number →Why AI labs want this, and why now
The public internet is used up
AI models have already been trained on much of the public web. Researchers project that fresh public text could run out before 2030.
Real work never went online
How a team actually fixes an outage, handles an angry customer or closes a deal lives in Slack threads, tickets and docs. That's what AI agents need to learn.
So the money followed
micro1's program is backed by Citi and Hercules Capital. Google agreed to pay $10 million for bankrupt Spirit Airlines' emails and Teams messages.
What they're looking for
- Slack or Microsoft Teams history
- SOPs and playbooks
- Knowledge bases
- Support tickets
- CRM and project histories
- QA processes
Still operating
- 30+ employees
- Mature operations and plenty of internal documentation
- Mostly English; US and Western markets
- Any industry
Shut down
- 30+ employees at your peak
- Substantial Slack or Microsoft Teams data still exists
- Based in the US, UK, Canada, India, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany or France
- Any industry
Shut down? Check your old workspace soon.
Since August 2024, Slack's free plan deletes messages older than a year. If your old workspace was downgraded, its history is disappearing on a rolling basis. If it's still on a paid plan, or you exported it, it may qualify.
These are micro1's published requirements. micro1 decides every case itself.
How it works
Fit check
A short assessment on micro1's site.
Review
micro1 looks at whether your data is a fit.
Discovery call
You agree exactly what's included and what's redacted.
Agreement
If approved, you sign and the partnership starts.
micro1 advertises $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages. In micro1's words, the final payout "is determined based on data sources, volume, quality, access terms, and due diligence", so nobody can promise you a specific number up front.
Your data stays yours
In micro1's own words:
- You keep ownership of your underlying data.
- Scope, redaction and anonymization are agreed with you before anything is shared.
- Personal information is removed where relevant, and some datasets are rewritten synthetically.
- You can review representative samples, and deletion follows the agreement.
Check your customer, vendor and employee agreements, and have your lawyer review micro1's agreement before sharing anything.
Why you're hearing this from me
I'm Rasmus Mikkelsen, founder of Publishing.com. We were about 190 people at our peak, and we're going through micro1's process with our own company right now, so I can tell you what it looks like from the inside.
To be upfront: I'm an independent referrer, not micro1 staff, and I don't speak for micro1. If a company I introduce becomes a micro1 partner, micro1 pays me a referral fee. You don't pay anything.
Applying through the buttons on this page is how micro1 knows I introduced you.
Questions people ask
Is this legit?
micro1 announced the program on October 9, 2026 (Business Wire), with financing from Citi and Hercules Capital (The Next Web). And we're in the process with Publishing.com ourselves.
How much would we get?
micro1 advertises $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages. Where a company lands depends on its data sources, volume, quality and the terms agreed, so nobody can honestly give you a number before micro1 has looked. The fit check is the fastest way to find out.
What does it cost us?
Nothing. The fit check is free and doesn't commit you to anything. If you partner, micro1 pays me a referral fee; you don't pay me anything.
Our company shut down. Who can say yes?
Whoever controls the data now: usually the former founder or CEO, the board, a bankruptcy trustee, or whoever bought the assets. If that's not you, I'm happy to talk to the right person.
Is it legal to share this data?
It depends on your contracts and privacy obligations, which is why micro1 agrees the scope and redaction with you first. Have your lawyer review the agreement before anything is shared.
Find out if your company qualifies
Free, a few minutes, no commitment.
Start the fit check →