Frequently Asked Questions

Sphere is a marketplace where AI companies and AI labs source rights-cleared data with legal clarity. Rights Holders, including institutions and enterprises, can list proprietary datasets for licensing, and buyers can acquire usage rights for training, evaluation, and model grounding. This creates clear attribution, reduces IP risk, and improves access to high-quality factual data.

Sphere helps approved AI companies, major AI labs, robotics teams, and enterprise AI groups license high-quality, rights-cleared data from Rights Holders for advanced AI products using data not found on the public web. The marketplace is designed for specialized data that supports model training, evaluation, grounding, physical-world understanding, embodied AI, and complex world modeling.

Buyers can license high-quality, proprietary datasets and intellectual property that are not available on the public web. Our data is sourced from vetted professionals across the private sector and university research systems, ensuring exceptional fidelity and provenance. Sphere specializes in rights-cleared, premium data assets purpose-built for advanced AI workflows.

Transactions on Sphere are licensing agreements, not outright purchases or assignments of copyright, IP, or underlying ownership. Buyers receive only the usage rights defined in each license, such as permission to train, evaluate, or ground AI models with the licensed data. The Rights Holder retains ownership, copyright, and IP in the data.

The license for data or IP bought on the Sphere marketplace is granted in perpetuity. Once a buyer licenses data or IP through Sphere, the usage rights granted under that license continue indefinitely, subject to the buyer complying with the applicable license terms.

No. Buyers who license data through Sphere in good faith and comply with the applicable license terms are not exposed under Sphere's marketplace terms to claims arising solely from a Rights Holder's unauthorized upload or misrepresentation of licensing authority. Sphere verifies Rights Holders, records provenance and license terms, and handles takedown and dispute workflows if a rights issue is reported. Buyers remain responsible for following the license terms and applicable law.

The Sphere marketplace operates on a demand-driven model. Buyers can signal specific data requirements or submit targeted data requests. Sphere then notifies relevant Rights Holders, institutions, and enterprise data partners to accelerate sourcing of the required datasets.

No. Once data is licensed through Sphere, the buyer has full rights to use that data for training, evaluations, and grounding AI models in perpetuity. Any models, products, outputs, or discoveries that result from using the licensed data belong entirely to the buyer. The Rights Holder retains copyright over the original data, but has no claim on anything the buyer builds or discovers with it — whether that is a commercial AI product, a research breakthrough, or any other downstream output.

Organizations and individuals with high-quality proprietary data can apply to become Rights Holders, including research institutions, enterprises, and domain experts. Sphere vets each applicant to confirm licensing authority and data quality standards. This maintains a trusted marketplace for leading AI companies and Rights Holders.

Sphere uses a verification process to ensure Rights Holders have authority to license the data they provide. This reduces legal risk for buyers by validating provenance and rights status before transactions are completed. Sphere also applies automated and manual quality checks to support data integrity and technical readiness for modern AI workflows.

No. Buyers must have an approved account to log in and view marketplace data, and other Rights Holders cannot see your data. Sphere monitors buyer activity for scraping or other prohibited behavior, and scraping is not allowed on Sphere. Only approved buyers can view listings, and they cannot download the underlying data until after they have licensed the usage rights offered through the platform.

No. Sphere approves certified buyers before they can access the marketplace. We screen buyers so high-quality, legitimate organizations can discover and license data through Sphere.

The license for data or IP bought on the Sphere marketplace is granted in perpetuity. Buyers retain the purchased usage rights indefinitely, subject to complying with the applicable license terms, while Rights Holders retain ownership, copyright, and IP in the underlying data.

Yes. Sphere has a referral program, but you need to have a subscribed account to access the details.

Sphere's percentage is 20% of the net price.

Payment is issued on the first business day of the following month.

No. Rights Holders are not exclusive to Sphere. They are free to license their data and IP on any other platform or through any other channel. Sphere is a non-exclusive marketplace — listing data here does not restrict a Rights Holder from distributing or licensing it elsewhere.

No. Once a buyer licenses your data through Sphere, they have full rights to use it for training, evaluations, and grounding AI models in perpetuity. Any models, products, outputs, or discoveries that result from using your licensed data belong entirely to the buyer. You retain copyright over your original data, but you have no claim on anything the buyer builds or discovers with it — whether that is a commercial AI product, a research breakthrough, or any other downstream output. Price your content accordingly to reflect this perpetual, unrestricted usage.