# Source code datasets for AI training

URL: https://aidataforsale.com/data/source-code-datasets
Publisher: AI Data For Sale (Marketing Signals Ltd)
Updated: 2026-11-10

License private codebases for AI coding model training. Commit history, tests and issues add value; secrets, client code and open-source licenses need checking first.

## Summary

- Private codebases with real commit history, tests and reviews are worth more to coding model builders than public code, which most labs already have.
- MIT Technology Review reported a crypto startup selling its codebase for about $25,000 in 2026, with more pending for workspace data.
- Secrets, credentials, client-owned code and third-party code under restrictive licenses must be removed first.
- Buyers value the history around the code, such as pull requests, reviews and linked issues, as much as the code itself.

## Specification

| Field | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| What it is | Private repositories with commit history, pull requests, code review, tests, CI results and linked issues. |
| Measured in | Repositories, lines of code, commits, languages and years of history. |
| Who buys | Coding assistant and coding agent builders, foundation model labs and RL environment vendors. |
| Where it comes from | Software companies, agencies (for code they own), closed startups and internal tools teams. |
| Rights to clear | Client ownership of commissioned code, open-source license obligations, contractor IP assignment and acquisition terms. |
| Privacy | Secrets, keys and credentials scrubbed; customer data in fixtures or logs removed. |
| Pricing signal | One crypto startup sold its codebase for about $25,000 (MIT Technology Review, 2026). Value depends on history depth and how unusual the domain is. |

## What coding AI buyers want

Coding models already see vast amounts of public code. What they lack is private, production-grade software with its history: how bugs were found and fixed, how reviewers pushed back, which tests caught what. That history is training data for coding agents.

## A reported reference point

MIT Technology Review reported that a crypto startup sold its codebase for about $25,000, with roughly $15,000 more pending for workspace data, through a wind-down platform that has handled more than 150 deals ([MIT Technology Review](https://technologyreview.com/2026/10/13/1145755/ai-labs-buying-data-from-dead-startups-to-train-models)).

## Before you offer a codebase

1. **Ownership.** Confirm contractor and employee IP assignments, and exclude code built for clients unless you kept the rights.
2. **Open source.** Identify vendored third-party code and its licenses; some copyleft obligations travel with the code.
3. **Secrets.** Scan full history, not just the current branch, for keys, tokens and passwords, and remove them.
4. **Customer data.** Check fixtures, logs, migrations and seed files.
5. **Competition.** Licensing core product code may help a buyer build a competing product; decide what you are comfortable with.

## Packaging

Buyers prefer a full git history export plus issue tracker and pull request data, with a manifest of languages, frameworks and domains. See also [software issue history](https://aidataforsale.com/data/software-issue-history) and [agent trajectory data](https://aidataforsale.com/data/agent-trajectory-data).

## Questions

### How much is my codebase worth to an AI company?

Reported deals for small startups have been in the tens of thousands of dollars. Long history, good tests, unusual domains and linked issues push value up.

### Can an agency sell code it wrote for clients?

Usually not without client consent, because client contracts typically assign the code to the client.

### Will buyers run our code?

Often yes, to build training environments. That is another reason to remove secrets from the entire history.

## Next steps

- [Request this data](https://aidataforsale.com/request-data)
- [License data like this](https://aidataforsale.com/list-your-data)

## Sources

- [MIT Technology Review: AI labs are buying data from dead startups to train models (October 2026)](https://technologyreview.com/2026/10/13/1145755/ai-labs-buying-data-from-dead-startups-to-train-models)
- [Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz: Selling company data for AI training, what to know before you say yes](https://technologylaw.fkks.com/post/102o455/selling-company-data-for-ai-training-what-to-know-before-you-say-yes)