The market includes SimpleClosure as broker, Cielo24 as a seller, AfterQuery (which creates synthetic "digital office worlds" for AI agent training), and unnamed AI labs as buyers. The practice remains largely unregulated, with limited transparency around consent or data handling. Marc Rotenberg of the Center for AI and Digital Policy has flagged a critical privacy gap: even anonymized workplace data often remains identifiable, particularly for long-tenured employees whose communication patterns are distinctive.
The trend reflects intense demand for complex, contextual datasets to train advanced AI agents—sources beyond public books and social media that can teach models to navigate real workplace scenarios. Attorneys should monitor this emerging market for potential employee privacy litigation, particularly claims by former workers whose communications were sold without explicit consent. Employment counsel should also review severance agreements and data policies to understand what obligations exist around employee communications post-shutdown, and whether current language adequately addresses AI training uses.