Updated 8 Nov 2026
micro1 vs Handshake AI, by the numbers.
By revenue, they are level: Handshake AI at $1B (run rate, Aug 2026), micro1 at $1B (run rate, Oct 2026).
Both sell RL environments, evaluations and benchmarks and expert and human data. Only micro1 sells datasets. Only Handshake AI sells annotation. Every figure below is linked to the filing or article it comes from; what each sells is in its own words, from its own pages.
Hold data companies like these buy? AIData.Broker values it free and introduces it to every buyer that takes it, at no cost to you: the buyers pay us. Where it earns more, we run the sale ourselves, for a fee only out of a sale.
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Side by side
Revenue over twelve months, the newest valuation, disclosed funding and what each says it does.
| micro1 | Handshake AI | |
|---|---|---|
| micro1 | Handshake AI | |
| Place on the rankings | #4 of 78 | #3 of 78 |
| Ranked on | $1B Revenue, run rate, Oct 2026 | $1B Revenue, run rate, Aug 2026 |
| Revenue, twelve months | $1B run rate, Oct 2026 over time | $1B run rate, Aug 2026 over time |
| Newest valuation | $4B Oct 2026 | $3.5B Jan 2022 |
| Disclosed funding | $138M in 4 records | $200M in 1 record |
| Sells | RL environments, Evaluations and benchmarks, Expert and human data, Datasets | RL environments, Evaluations and benchmarks, Expert and human data, Annotation |
| Works on | Coding, Finance, Legal, Medical, Speech and audio | Coding, Business work, Finance, Legal, Science, Images and video |
| Made from | Made by experts and contractors | Made by experts and contractors, Licensed from its owners |
| Takes data from companies | Through our introductions | Through our introductions |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US | San Francisco, California, US |
| Founded | 2022 | 2014 |
| In its own words | “We're building the infrastructure for advancing intelligence through expert human data, real-world training environments, and contextual evaluations” Its page | “Handshake AI is our new service to provide expert human model validation and technology systems for frontier AI development.” Its page |
- The rule.
- Each company is ranked on the first of these it has on record: its revenue over twelve months (a run rate or a year as published, or its last four quarters added up; an AI segment where the rest of its business is not AI data), then its newest valuation, then the money it disclosed raising. No company pays for a place. The full method and every change to it.
- Twelve months.
- A run rate or ARR is the company's own annualised figure; a year is the year it published. Gross revenue of a human data company includes what it pays its experts.
- Pays companies for data.
- "Through our introductions": it takes companies' data through AIData.Broker's introductions and pays us a referral fee when one goes ahead. That never moves its place: the order is the money on record. "Its own programme": a published programme for buying data. "Says it buys data": its own words, linked.
- Why this pair.
- People search for this comparison: Google suggests it, read on 8 Nov 2026. Neither company asked for or paid for this page.
Selling your company's data to micro1 or Handshake AI
What each says it pays a company for its data, what it wants and when it pays, in its own published terms.
| micro1 | Handshake AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Takes data from companies | Through our introductions | Through our introductions |
| What it says it pays | $100K to $3M micro1, data partnerships page, 5 Nov 2026 | $100K to $4M Handshake AI, data licensing page, 5 Nov 2026 |
| What it wants | Internal communications, SOPs, project histories, CRM records, support tickets and other business documentation; separately, the trajectories a company's own AI agents produce. | Operational data from the tools a business runs on (Gmail, Slack, Drive, NetSuite, QuickBooks, Figma and more), transferred as it exists today. |
| When it pays | Up to about 60 days from the transfer: its FAQ gives micro1 "30 days to review and approve" the data, then pays "within 30 days of invoicing"; its payment step says "We pay in full within 30 days of acceptance" (its data partnerships page, 29 Oct 2026). | "Payment terms are negotiated as part of your agreement and tied to defined delivery milestones." It says an initial review and pricing come within 12 to 24 hours of the details it needs, and the whole process typically takes 7 to 14 business days (FAQ on its data-partnerships page, 17 Oct 2026). |
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On the same rankings
The lists both are ranked on, with each one's place.
- Legal AI training data companiesmicro1 #4, Handshake AI #3 of 17
- Finance AI training data companiesmicro1 #4, Handshake AI #3 of 25
- Coding data companies for AImicro1 #4, Handshake AI #3 of 33
- RL environment companiesmicro1 #4, Handshake AI #3 of 36
- Best AI data labs and human data companiesmicro1 #4, Handshake AI #3 of 41
- AI evaluation companiesmicro1 #4, Handshake AI #3 of 60
The latest money moves
The newest rounds, valuations and revenue figures of the two, each linked to its record.
- 12 Oct 2026micro1 was valued at $4B valuation
- 12 Oct 2026micro1 reported $1B revenue (run rate, Oct 2026)
- 23 Sep 2026micro1 raised $100M at a $4B valuation
- 27 Aug 2026Handshake AI reported $1B revenue (run rate, Aug 2026)
- 26 Jun 2026micro1 raised $1.8M
- 28 Jan 2026Handshake AI was acquired by Handshake
- 12 Sep 2025micro1 raised $35M at a $500M valuation
- 24 Oct 2023micro1 raised $1.3M at a $30M valuation
The questions people ask
- Is micro1 bigger than Handshake AI?
- By revenue, they are level: Handshake AI at $1B (run rate, Aug 2026), micro1 at $1B (run rate, Oct 2026).
- What is the difference between micro1 and Handshake AI?
- micro1 provides expert human data, RL environments, and evaluations to AI labs and frontier robotics labs. Handshake AI provides expert human model validation, RL environments and evaluations to AI labs, drawing on a network of graduate-level experts. Both sell RL environments, evaluations and benchmarks and expert and human data. Only micro1 sells datasets. Only Handshake AI sells annotation.
- Which raised more money, micro1 or Handshake AI?
- micro1: $138M disclosed, valued at $4B (2026). Handshake AI: $200M disclosed, valued at $3.5B (2022).
- Do micro1 and Handshake AI buy data from companies?
- micro1 takes data from the companies that hold it, through a published programme. Handshake AI takes data from the companies that hold it, through a published programme.
More comparisons
Each company against its whole field, and the other comparisons people search.