Failed startups are selling Slack chats and internal data to AI companies for up to $100,000

Slack chats and internal data from failed startups are finding a second life in AI training

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. One person's trash... The race to build more capable AI systems is pushing developers beyond the open web and into a far more intimate source of data: the internal workings of failed startups. As companies wind down, a growing secondary market has emerged for their digital exhaust - Slack threads, email chains, internal documents, and even source code. What was once considered operational residue is now being packaged, scrubbed, and sold to AI developers seeking richer training environments. The shift reflects a broader evolution in how advanced AI models are built. Early large language models drew heavily from news archives, Wikipedia, and forums. Now, newer systems, particularly agentic AI, require something more structured and situational: data that mirrors how decisions unfold inside organizations. To meet that need, developers are building "reinforcement learning gyms," controlled simulation environments where AI agents can rehearse workplace tasks. These systems rely on detailed, real-world datasets that capture workflows, communication patterns, and decision-making processes. The demand has become significant enough that Anthropic leaders have discussed spending up to $1 billion on such training infrastructure. That demand is now intersecting with an unexpected supplier base - firms that specialize in shutting down startups. Companies like SimpleClosure, which typically handle payroll, taxes, and investor settlements during closures, are expanding into data monetization. Its newly launched platform, Asset Hub, is designed to help founders extract remaining value from their companies by licensing internal assets. These include not only technical materials, such as source code, but also workplace data, such as emails, documents, and Slack messages. The company says it evaluates which data can be sold, estimates its value, and processes it to remove personally identifiable information before licensing. Forbes reports that over the past year, SimpleClosure has facilitated nearly 100 such transactions, with payouts ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per company. "There's a feeling of a gold rush from these companies trying to get their hands on real-world data," says SimpleClosure CEO Dori Yona. Internal communications show how work actually happens - how teams coordinate, resolve ambiguity, and execute tasks. For AI systems designed to function as autonomous collaborators rather than passive tools, that context is difficult to replicate using public data alone. However, the same qualities that make these datasets valuable also raise concerns. Unlike scraped web content, workplace communications often contain identifiable individuals, behavioral patterns, and sensitive exchanges. Even with anonymization, privacy advocates argue that the risks are not trivial. "I think the privacy issues here are quite substantial," Center for AI and Digital Policy Founder Marc Rotenberg told Forbes. "Employee privacy remains a key concern, particularly because people have become so dependent on these new internal messaging tools like Slack ... It's not generic data. It's identifiable people." The concerns are beginning to draw attention from policymakers. The Center for AI and Digital Policy recently sent a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee urging the Federal Trade Commission to increase oversight of AI-driven businesses, particularly in how they source and use training data. The trend links startup closures with AI development in a new way. As companies fail, their internal data - once ephemeral - can gain new utility as training material for the next generation of systems. In turn, those systems may reshape how future companies operate, communicate, and ultimately generate the very data that trains their successors. The market is still developing but appears to be growing. The demand for more detailed, task-based data is increasing, while the supply - fueled by a steady churn of startup closures - shows little sign of slowing.

Failed Companies Are Selling Old Slack Chats and Email Archives to Train AI

Startups that are shutting down are now selling off their company data, including emails and Slack messages, for as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars to help train AI models. Forbes reports that companies that specialize in winding down startups are helping founders squeeze out some last-minute cash by monetizing their internal communications. While large language models were initially trained on public internet data like books, news articles, Wikipedia, and Reddit threads, newer agentic AI models require more complex datasets that reflect how work actually gets done. That training often happens in so-called “reinforcement learning gyms†or RL gyms. These simulated environments are built using real-world company data and allow AI agents to practice completing workplace tasks like planning a birthday celebration for a coworker. This kind of training data has quickly become very lucrative. The Information reported last year that leaders at Anthropic discussed spending up to $1 billion on RL gyms. Now, the companies that help startups shut down by handling things like payroll, taxes, and investor settlements are getting in on the action. For example, SimpleClosure this week introduced a new product called Asset Hub, aimed at helping startups monetize their data. The platform allows companies to license things like source code as well as workplace data, including documents, workflows, and internal communications such as Slack messages and emails. According to its website, SimpleClosure helps companies determine what data can be sold, assess its value, and process it to remove personally identifiable information. SimpleClosure did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo. Forbes reports that over the past year, SimpleClosure has processed nearly 100 of these deals, with payouts ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per company. “There’s a feeling of a gold rush from these companies trying to get their hands on real-world data,†SimpleClosure CEO Dori Yona told Forbes. Still, some privacy advocates are raising concerns about what this means for workers whose data may be included in those datasets. “I think the privacy issues here are quite substantial,†Center for AI and Digital Policy Founder Marc Rotenberg told the outlet. “Employee privacy remains a key concern, particularly because people have become so dependent on these new internal messaging tools like Slackâ€|It's not generic data. It's identifiable people.†The Center for AI and Digital Policy also recently sent a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee urging the Federal Trade Commission to step up its oversight of AI-driven businesses.

Shuttered startups are selling old Slack chats and emails to AI companies

According to a report by Forbes, defunct companies are selling their digital footprints to AI companies as training data -- and making real money from it. Shanna Johnson, the CEO of now-defunct software company cielo24, told the publication that she was able to sell every Slack message, internal email and Jira ticket as training data for "hundreds of thousands of dollars." This isn't a one-off scenario. SimpleClosure, a startup that helps companies like cielo24 shut down, told Forbes that there's been major interest from AI companies trying to get their hands on workplace data. Because of this, SimpleClosure launched a new tool that allows companies to sell their wealth of internal communications -- from Slack archives to email chains -- to AI labs. The company said they've processed 100 such deals in the past year. Payouts ranged from $10,000 to $100,000. Naturally, there are real data privacy concerns here. Even if the data is anonymized, these communications can contain personally identifiable information, especially for an employee who built out a long career at the company.