Can You Sell CAD Files to AI Companies?
AITrainingDataBroker.com
Can You Sell
CAD Files
to AI Companies?
Project folders
20 years
AI labs are asking for files like these.
Why AI labs want CAD · native or export · who owns it · who fits
Jimmy Lin
Can You Sell CAD Files to AI Companies?
An engineering firm opens 20 years of project folders, and thousands of drawings, models and revisions stack up on the screen.
AI labs are asking for exactly this kind of file, often from firms that never thought of it as data.
So can you sell your CAD files, and get paid for them?
The video
Can You Sell CAD Files to AI Companies?
Full script
An engineering firm opens 20 years of project folders, and thousands of drawings, models and revisions stack up on the screen.
AI labs are asking for exactly this kind of file, often from firms that never thought of it as data.
So can you sell your CAD files, and get paid for them?
Yes, a firm can license or sell its CAD files to AI companies, and get paid for them.
Most deals are licenses, so you keep your files and the rights.
How much you earn depends on what is inside the files.
3 things matter most.
They are native files, the design history behind them, and clear ownership of every file.
This is general information, not legal advice.
First, why would an AI lab want a drawing at all?
Most owners think an AI lab wants the finished drawing, but what it wants most is the steps behind it.
AI labs want to teach AI how a design gets made, and a CAD file keeps every step in order.
That order is the lesson.
First a sketch, then an extrude that pulls it up into a solid, then a fillet that rounds the edges, and last the holes.
So the AI learns the way an engineer works, and not just the shape at the end.
But not every CAD file still has those steps.
That order only lives in the native file, the one your team saves in SolidWorks, Revit or AutoCAD.
Its feature tree, the list of steps down the side of the screen, keeps every sketch, size and hole.
Then someone exports it.
Saved as STEP, a mesh or a PDF, that list collapses into one frozen shape, and the steps are gone.
So native files that still carry their design history are worth more than exports of the same parts.
Exports still help as a second copy, but they cannot replace the native files.
But the history reaches past the feature tree, and it is often the most valuable part of a design.
That means every revision, every markup from a design review, and every change order.
Then come the RFIs.
RFI means request for information, a question the builder sends in, and each one comes with your team's answer.
Together they are the record of how the design got done, who changed what, and why.
Nobody can rebuild that later.
Client names and addresses on those papers are de-identified first, which means we strip them out within the privacy rules that apply.
But before any of it is licensed, one question comes first.
Then who owns the files: your firm, or your client?
Take one law as an example, the UK copyright law from 1988, section 11.
It says the maker of a work owns it first.
And when staff make it at work, the employer owns it, unless an agreement says otherwise.
So check your client contracts.
Files you bought or collected from others need clear rights in writing before anyone can license them.
Rules differ by country, so have your lawyer read the ownership part of your contracts first.
And once ownership is clear, a few things can still pull the price down.
The first is exports only.
Then native files with the history missing, files your client owns, files already offered elsewhere, and files cleaned up before sending.
Each one gives an AI lab a reason to stop and check, or to offer less.
Some can be fixed.
This will not fit every firm, though: a shop that only kept PDFs and STEP files may have little to license.
So could your company have the files AI labs look for?
Mechanical and industrial design firms, architecture studios, structural engineering firms, and medical device makers all keep native files with years of history.
Where you are matters too.
AI labs often look for files from firms in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and Europe.
That is a pattern, and not a promise of any price.
Here is the takeaway: native files with their history, and clear ownership, are what AI labs want to license.
Tonight, open your project folders.
Count your native files and the years they cover, and check that the revision history was kept.
Then find the ownership clause in your client contracts, and list everyone who has already seen your files.
That leaves one question.
Who can find me the AI labs that buy CAD files?
That part is my job, so let me tell you who I am.
I'm Jimmy. I have worked in data at Fortune 500 companies, as a data analyst, a data engineer and a software engineer, and I am trained in data science. I am also a Canadian military veteran, specialized in data analysis and reporting.
In a data deal, I come in as your broker and technical advisor.
As your broker, I take one de-identified sample of your data to several AI labs and bring back their offers, so you can compare price, terms and how your files may be used.
I work through the terms with you, and you make the final call.
As your technical advisor, I guide your team through what to export, the format, the de-identification and compliance.
We move forward only after your team signs off.
AI companies pay my fee.
Already shopping your data around? Contact us anyway. We can still work through the terms with you and help you negotiate a better price.
If you are buying data for an AI lab, I find the right data and see it through to delivery.
Native files that keep their design history, with ownership you can show, are what make CAD files worth licensing.
Tonight, count your native files and find the ownership clause in one client contract.
More on selling CAD files at AITrainingDataBroker.com.
Thank you for watching.
I will see you next time.
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