Micro1 pays up to $2M for employees' Slack DMs and emails
TL;DR
- Micro1 is paying companies $100,000 to $2 million for operational data including Slack logs, emails and CRM records, with a $1 billion budget over 12 months.
- At Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy auction, Micro1 bid $12.5 million for an archive of about 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams items.
- Mode.Inc CEO Dan Novaes told Business Insider demand is 'astronomical,' while sale proceeds typically go to creditors and investors, not employees.
Micro1, a Palo Alto startup, is paying companies between $100,000 and $2 million for their operational data: Slack logs, emails, CRM records, project histories. The pitches often arrive as six-figure 'exploding offers' that expire in 48 hours.
The scale behind the push is new. Micro1 has committed $1 billion over twelve months to buying this material, with capital from Citi and Hercules Capital.
'Right now, the demand is just astronomical,' Mode.Inc CEO Dan Novaes told Business Insider. Rival Polyshares buys company Slack logs, emails, support tickets and CRM records directly through its website. The data is 'priced by the terabyte, anonymized, and sold to AI giants desperate for an edge.'
The clearest view of the market so far is Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy auction, which Fast Company recapped from the same reporting: Google bid $10 million, Mercor $7.5 million, and Micro1 $12.5 million for an archive of roughly 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams items. Consumer privacy ombudsman Lucy Thomson filed a report asking the court to investigate Micro1's privacy safeguards.
Employees rarely learn their messages are up for sale. Dori Yona, CEO of SimpleClosure, said its Asset Hub has handled more than 150 deals, and 47% include selling code or workplace data. Sale proceeds flow to creditors and investors.
Shared on Bluesky by 2 AI experts
-
“The boom has created a thriving group of go-betweens who hunt for small businesses rich in data and low on cash. After scrubbing sensitive information like Social Security numbers and home addresses, they resell it to A…
View on Bluesky →
Originally reported by businessinsider.com
Read the original article →Original headline: AI labs are offering companies big money to hand over their employees' private Slack DMs and emails