How payouts work when you license company data to AI

What payment structures are there?

The programs we track publish three main structures, plus two variations. Several publish none.

Structure	How it works	Who publishes it	What you trade
Fixed sum, one time	One agreed amount for the licensed data	Polyshares (“a single agreed amount”), Endless Data (“a fixed sum with Endless before anything is shared”)	A known amount, no share in later licensing
Delivery milestones	Payments tied to defined delivery stages, with amounts in writing before transfer	Handshake AI	Money in stages; each stage needs a clear definition of done
Revenue share	The company is paid from each license of its record	Turing Project Lazarus (“Every sale pays you.”)	Open-ended income that depends on demand; percentage set in the agreement
Recurring add-on	Ongoing payment for a continuing data stream	micro1, for agent trajectories	An ongoing delivery obligation
License or outright transfer	SimpleClosure offers a license, where you keep the assets, or an outright sale	SimpleClosure AssetHub	A transfer gives up the asset itself

Mercor does not publish a structure, and neither does micro1 for ordinary datasets. For each program’s terms, see the buyer comparison.

Which structure suits your company?

A fixed sum suits a company that wants a clean, known result, including one that is closing and needs proceeds before dissolution. The thing to check is whether the full amount depends on acceptance, and what acceptance means.

Milestones spread risk between you and the buyer. Define each milestone by something you control, such as delivery of a named system for a named date range, not by an event inside the buyer’s business. Ask what happens to later payments if the buyer stops the project.

A revenue share is a bet on how often the buyer can license your record. Turing says preparation costs “are covered from sales, never charged to you” (source), so you carry no upfront cost, but you also have no floor unless the agreement adds one. Ask what counts toward your share, how often you get reports, whether you can audit them, how long the share lasts, and whether there is a minimum.

Endless Data and Turing are both aggregators that license data on to AI labs, yet one pays once and the other shares each license. The business model of the buyer does not tell you the structure; the agreement does.

What triggers payment: signing, delivery or acceptance?

The trigger matters as much as the amount, because it decides who controls the date.

• Signing. None of the published terms we track pays on signature alone. Endless Data comes closest, paying after signing and transfer, with no net terms published (source).
• Delivery. Mercor pays on delivery of the anonymized dataset to the buyer (source).
• Acceptance or approval. micro1 pays in full within 30 days of acceptance (source), and Polyshares pays once the data is approved, anonymized and delivered (source).

Acceptance is the most common published trigger, and it gives the buyer the most control. micro1’s FAQ describes a 30-day review, then payment within 30 days of invoicing (source), so plan around both periods. Ask for written acceptance criteria and a fixed review window.

When does each program pay?

Program	Published trigger	Published timing	Method
micro1	Acceptance	“We pay in full within 30 days of acceptance.” (source)	Not published
Mercor	Delivery of the anonymized dataset to the buyer	“typically occurs within 2-4 weeks of the signed agreement” (source)	Wire transfer (source)
Polyshares	Data approved, anonymized and delivered	“Net 30 to 60 once the data is approved” (source)	Not published
Endless Data	Signing and transfer	No net terms published (source)	Not published
Handshake AI	Defined delivery milestones	Pricing in 12 to 24 hours, then 7 to 14 business days to finalize (source)	Not published
Turing Project Lazarus	Each license of the record	Usually within the first 2 months of scoping (source)	Not published
SimpleClosure AssetHub	Not published	Not published	SimpleClosure handles receipt and distribution of proceeds (source)

Handshake AI’s figures describe pricing and finalizing the deal, not the payment date. Ask when the first milestone is paid.

Who actually sends the money?

It depends on the kind of program. Buyers and aggregators pay you themselves; Mercor, for example, pays by wire transfer (source). Brokers do not hold the money. SimpleClosure, as a closure marketplace, handles receipt and distribution of proceeds, according to its September 2026 press release (third-party copy).

SellData.ai never handles your data or your money. The buyer pays you directly.

What happens if the buyer rejects the data?

None of the programs we track publishes, in the terms we record, what happens when delivered data is rejected. What they do publish are checks before transfer, and what happens when no deal closes:

• micro1 says companies can review representative samples first (source).
• Mercor: “No data leaves your systems until you approve it.” (source)
• Polyshares: “Nothing leaves your systems until Polyshares has made an offer” (source).
• Endless Data agrees the fixed sum before anything is shared, and Handshake AI puts amounts in writing before transfer (Endless Data, Handshake AI).
• Turing’s process includes a sample shared through a private folder (source).
• SimpleClosure “only takes a percentage if your assets are successfully sold or licensed” (source).

Since the rejection terms are not published, ask:

1. What are the acceptance criteria, in writing?
2. How long is the review period, and what happens if the buyer says nothing by the end of it?
3. Can the buyer accept part of the data and pay for that part?
4. Do we get a chance to fix and redeliver?
5. If data is rejected, are all copies deleted, by when, and will we get written confirmation?
6. Can the buyer use rejected data for anything, including evaluation?

How are payouts taxed?

We do not give tax advice. How a payment is treated depends on the wording of your agreement and on your company, so talk to your CPA before you sign, not after the money arrives. Useful questions to bring:

• Given the grant clause, is this payment a license fee, the price of an asset, or something else?
• In which tax year does each milestone or revenue-share payment count?
• If the company is winding down, how do the proceeds fit the dissolution plan?
• What tax forms will the buyer ask for before it pays?

For what to check in the rest of the agreement, see data licensing agreement terms. For the amounts themselves, see how much company data is worth, and for the full deal process, how licensing company data to AI works. If you have not checked fit yet, start with the value check.