Lest you have any illusions, you have zero privacy at work. But AI is further encroaching on any semblance of privacy you may currently have. 

Forget the prolific workplace surveillance tools, now your Slack messages with colleagues or your emails with customers could be worth millions. That’s because a burgeoning industry for mundane workplace data is seeing companies sell their workplace data to train AI agents in the next wave of this technological revolution.

In what’s become a highly competitive market, AI data brokers are so eager to get their hands on whatever workplace information they can that business owners are being inundated with six-figure offers laced with aggressive tactics to get them to sell their data, according to a new report from Business Insider. This industry is quickly evolving, as companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta that are racing to build AI agents have exhausted the data grab from defunct companies and are now working with brokers to get live data from active companies, as the outlet reported.

What’s most valuable is “long-horizon” data that demonstrates how work actually gets done, as William Almeida, the chief revenue officer of Micro1, told Business Insider. The Palo Alto, California-based startup is currently offering an unlimited $50,000 referral bonus for any company that is approved for a data partnerships program where businesses can fetch anywhere from $100,000 to $2 million for their operational data.

If a company won’t sell the whole kit and caboodle—including Slack messages, customer relationship management records or its email history—then the rest of its data is rendered less valuable.

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