Companies that wind down failed startups are selling their code and workplace records to AI labs, and one founder earned tens of thousands of dollars.
AI companies are buying the leftover data of startups that have shut down. Keelan Miskell closed his crypto startup and did not expect its data to be worth much. He later sold its codebase and workspace data for tens of thousands of dollars.
Firms that help shut down startups now sell the records of those companies to AI labs. A codebase is the software code a company wrote. Workspace data is the record of how a team worked.
The reason is demand. AI labs have hit the limits of public data and synthetic data, which is data made by computers rather than collected from real life. Buyers now want real-world business records to help train AI agents, which are programs built to carry out tasks.
Any founder, employee or customer connected to a company that closes could be affected. Old files and messages may have value to a buyer, even when the owners see little in them. The sales also raise legal and ethical questions.
If a business you work for or run closes, ask early who will get its files and messages, because AI buyers may now want them.
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