Can you sell Slack data to AI companies? What the terms say
Slack's API terms, updated in May 2025, ban using data from its API to train large language models and ban bulk export without a separate agreement. A workspace owner's own export is governed by the customer agreement instead, so check that agreement with a lawyer before planning a licence. Google Workspace's API policy has a similar ban.
What Slack's API terms say
Slack's API Terms of Service, dated 29 May 2025, list what developers may not do with data they get through Slack's API. Two items matter here: they may not "use API Data to train a large language model", and may not "bulk export Slack message and file data except where expressly allowed by an additional agreement".
The same terms say developers must limit their use and retention of API data "to the minimum necessary", and that apps using Slack's Data Access API may not create "persistent copies, archives, indexes or long-term data stores". Law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth summarised the change in August 2025 as Salesforce locking down Slack data.
A workspace export is a different route
The API terms govern apps and developers. A workspace's owners can also export data through Slack itself, and that export is governed by the customer agreement, not the API terms. What it includes depends on the plan, according to Slack's help centre:
| Plan | What owners can export |
|---|---|
| Free and Pro | Public channels, with file links limited to the last 90 days |
| Business+ | Private channels and direct messages too, with approval for the export application |
| Enterprise Grid | Organisation owners ask Slack support for access to self-serve export tools |
Whether your customer agreement lets you hand such an export to an AI buyer is a legal question. Have a lawyer read your agreement before you plan a licence.
Google Workspace and other tools
Google's Workspace API user data policy, announced in February 2024, says "transfers of data for generalized machine-learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) models are prohibited" for apps that access Workspace data through its APIs.
- Atlassian (Jira, Confluence) and Zendesk publish policies on how their own AI features use your data. Check their developer and customer terms for any limits on exporting for training.
- Microsoft 365, GitHub, Salesforce, HubSpot and Intercom each have their own API and customer terms. Read the current versions; they change.
- In every case, your own customer agreement and the terms of any app you'd use for the export both count.
What to do before you plan anything
- List each tool that holds the data and the plan you are on.
- Find the current customer agreement and API terms for each, and note anything about export, retention or AI training.
- Ask a lawyer which route, if any, allows a licence, and whether the vendor's written permission is needed.
- Don't run a bulk export or connect a third-party app to pull data until that is settled.
Our guide on whether selling company data is legal covers the privacy side. To see whether your data is worth this effort, take the free data check.
Questions
Can I sell my company's Slack data to AI companies?
Possibly, but not through Slack's API: its terms ban using API data to train large language models. A workspace owner's export is governed by the customer agreement, which a lawyer should check first.
When did Slack change its API terms?
The terms are dated 29 May 2025. They ban using API data to train large language models and bulk export without a separate agreement.
Does Google Workspace allow using data for AI training?
Google's Workspace API policy prohibits transfers of user data for generalised machine learning or AI models by apps that use its APIs.
Who owns our Slack messages?
Customer content is generally governed by your customer agreement with Slack. Ownership is separate from what the API terms let apps do with it.
Which Slack plans can export private channels?
Business+ and Enterprise Grid, with approval steps. Free and Pro plans export public channels only.
Sources
- Slack API Terms of Service (29 May 2025) Slack
- Salesforce locks down Slack data: time to review your Slack API terms (5 August 2025) Hunton Andrews Kurth, law firm
- Export your workspace data Slack Help Center
- Google Workspace API user data policy protections (3 February 2024) Google Workspace
- Selling company data for AI training: what to know before you say yes (1 October 2026) Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, law firm