Sell your company's email to AI: who takes it, how to export it

Email is how most companies did business with customers, suppliers and each other. AI companies want the threads, with replies and attachments, because they show how real work moves from a question to a decision. Four of the companies we list name email in what they take.

Email has already sold in public

In Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy, Google won the auction for a de-identified copy of the airline’s records with a $10 million bid, and Mercor was runner-up at $7.5 million. The filings describe about 100 million emails across 80,000 accounts, plus Teams messages. As of October 21, 2026, the judge had not approved the sale. The hearing is set for November 6.

That case is large and unusual. Most deals are for an operating company’s records, licensed while the company keeps working.

Gmail: export the whole domain with Data Export

Google’s Data Export tool is in every Google Workspace edition. It copies the whole organization’s data, Gmail included, to Cloud Storage. It also covers suspended and archived accounts.

• You need a super admin account at least 30 days old, with 2-Step Verification on.
• An export typically takes about 72 hours and can take up to 14 days.
• In Google’s default bucket, the files are deleted 60 days after the export starts. Download them before then.
• Organizations with more than 1,000 users should contact Google support first.

Google Vault exports mail as PST or mbox files, with each message’s details. Vault is included with most Workspace editions and is an add-on for some.

Gmail: the clocks that run out

• A deleted user can be restored for 20 days. After that, the mailbox is gone. Offboarding staff by deleting accounts starts that clock on each one. Suspend them instead.
• A canceled subscription deletes users’ data, and Google says it can’t be restored. Export before you cancel.

Outlook: export with Microsoft Purview

Microsoft 365 exports mailboxes through Purview eDiscovery, as PST files or as individual messages.

• The person running the export needs a Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 license.
• An export package expires 14 days after it’s created. Exports that run for more than seven days are canceled automatically, so split a large tenant into several searches.

Outlook: the clocks that run out

For most subscriptions, Microsoft moves through three stages after a subscription ends: expired for 30 days, then disabled for 90 days, then deleted. While disabled, only admins can reach the data. After a cancellation, data might be deleted after 90 days and will be deleted no later than 180 days.

What to take out before anyone sees a sample

• Legal advice. Email with your lawyers is privileged. Keep it out.
• HR, health and pay. Personnel files, medical notes and salary threads.
• Client secrets. If your firm owes clients confidentiality, as law, accounting and health firms do, that duty covers their email too. Check with a lawyer before anyone samples it.
• Personal mail. Staff use work accounts for private life. Say how you’ll treat it.

Ask each company how it removes personal details before you share a sample. You still decide what leaves the building.

In bankruptcy, a court decides

A bankrupt company can’t sell its customers’ personal information unless the sale fits its own privacy policy, or a court approves it after a consumer privacy ombudsman reviews it (11 U.S.C. § 363). If your company is in administration or bankruptcy, read whether its data can be sold.