AI labs are buying data from dead startups to train their models
[MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/10/13/1145755/ai-labs-buying-data-from-dead-startups-to-train-models/) reports: AI labs are.
By Dillip Chowdary • Oct 13, 2026 • Source: MIT Technology Review
AI labs are buying data from dead startups: what actually changed
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MIT Technology Review reports: AI labs are buying data from dead startups to train their models. When Keelan Miskell began winding down his crypto startup this year, he didn’t think its data was worth much: the users were anonymous, the company just a few years old. But he’s since turned the firm’s digital archives into real money. He’s netted roughly $25,000 for his code base and a still-pending amount (likely…
Developer Action Items
- ☐ Verify the claim on the official AI labs buying data page (or MIT Technology Review), not from this recap alone.
- ☐ Name the surface that moved — API, policy, model, hardware, or commercial terms — before you Slack the thread.
- ☐ Assign one owner a day to read the primary material and decide: this-sprint, this-quarter, or noise.
- ☐ Do not change production on day-one coverage. Watch the vendor changelog and one independent write-up first.
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Author
Dillip Chowdary
Writes Tech Bytes coverage of AI, engineering, and the tools that actually ship. Editor of Tech Pulse Daily.
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