Sell manufacturing data to AI companies

What manufacturing data do AI companies buy?

AI companies buy manufacturing data that links a fault to its cause and its fix. A nonconformance report, the 8D investigation that followed, the engineering change notice and the updated work instruction together show how a real problem was solved on a real line.

• Nonconformance reports, corrective and preventive actions and 8D investigations
• Maintenance work orders and fault logs from the maintenance management system
• Work instructions and standard operating procedures, with revision history
• Machine and sensor time series, especially where faults are labeled
• Inspection images with the pass or fail decision recorded
• Engineering change notices and the reasons given for them

Labels are the difference between raw data and training data. A year of vibration readings is far more useful when the maintenance log shows the date a bearing failed. Inspection photos are image data that buyers value when each image carries the inspector's decision.

Structure matters more than file format. Exports from your maintenance and quality systems as CSV files or database tables, with consistent asset IDs and timestamps, let a buyer link a fault in one system to a sensor trace in another. Record those links, and which system each export came from, in your data manifest.

How much do AI companies pay for manufacturing data?

AI companies publish a range of $100,000 to $1.5 million for manufacturing data. That is Mercor's referral listing for manufacturers of 20 to 2,000 employees, as reported by ddiy.co in October 2026.

The $1.5 million ceiling is the highest of the 11 Mercor listings ddiy.co reports, above law firms at $1.2 million and construction companies at $1 million. The 20-employee floor also means smaller specialist manufacturers are in scope. A free data valuation gives you a written range for your own records.

Do export controls apply to selling manufacturing data?

Export controls apply to selling manufacturing data whenever the records contain controlled technology. Under section 734.13 of the Export Administration Regulations, an export includes an actual shipment or transmission out of the United States, and also releasing or otherwise transferring technology or source code to a foreign person.

That second limb catches data sales inside the country. Section 734.13(b) treats a release in the United States to a foreign person as a release to that person's most recent country of citizenship or permanent residency, which the Bureau of Industry and Security calls a deemed export. A buyer's foreign national engineers reviewing a sample can trigger it.

Defense work adds the ITAR. Under 22 CFR 120.50(a)(2), releasing or otherwise transferring technical data to a foreign person in the United States is a deemed export. Many civilian products sit on the Commerce Control List as well, so check classifications rather than assuming you are out of scope, and take export control advice before any technical records leave your systems.

Customer drawings and specifications usually cannot be included. If you make parts to a customer's design, the drawings, tolerances and specifications are the customer's property and are normally supplied under an NDA or the purchase order terms.

Your own records about making those parts may still be usable once the customer's design details are removed. A nonconformance report can keep the defect type, cause and corrective action while dropping the part number, drawing reference and customer name. Treat this as a judgment for each customer contract, and see the legal guide for the general position.

What trade secrets should a manufacturer protect?

A manufacturer should protect the process knowledge that gives it an edge, even if it owns that knowledge outright. Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act definition at 18 U.S.C. section 1839(3), information is a trade secret only if the owner has taken reasonable measures to keep it secret and it derives value from not being generally known.

A broad license to several buyers could weaken that position. Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz also notes that once a model is trained on records, the data cannot practically be pulled back out.

If you do include sensitive quality records, an exclusive license with one named buyer, a narrow field of use and a ban on onward transfer gives you more control than a non-exclusive deal sold to several buyers. See exclusive vs non-exclusive data licenses.

Check the terms of any connected equipment platform too. Some machine builders host telemetry on their own platforms, and the platform terms decide whether you can export and license that data.

If you hold UK or EU data

UK sites face UK export controls as well. The Export Control Joint Unit's guidance on GOV.UK says emails containing controlled technology, and technology uploaded to the cloud and accessed overseas, require an export license, and that responsibility lies with the owner of the technology, not the service provider.

How does selling manufacturing data work with Sell My Data To AI?

Selling manufacturing data with Sell My Data To AI starts with a consultation about your quality, maintenance and production systems and the years they cover. We flag export control and customer contract questions early, so they are cleared or excluded before a buyer sees anything. If any product sits close to a control list entry, allow time for a classification check.

We then help you complete the manifest, run our eight vetting checks and show a redacted sample to buyers you approve. You sign the license directly with your chosen buyer. Book a free consultation to start.