Noesion Radarnoesion.ai
Market2026-08-05

Forbes reported on August 5, 2026 that U.S. AI data-labeling startups including Surge AI, Mercor, AfterQuery and Turing are selling training datasets to Chinese AI labs while also supplying OpenAI, Anthropic and, in some cases, U.S. federal entities. Based on documents and communications reviewed, Tencent circulated a request for training data covering finance, cybersecurity and self-improving AI systems; Ant Group and Alibaba were linked to AfterQuery and Mercor, and Turing project documentation referenced ByteDance. Two data-labeling entrepreneurs estimated the top six Chinese labs spend roughly $500 million a year with American data vendors; a source said Chinese labs were 2% of Mercor's Q2 revenue, while AfterQuery draws at least $50 million in recurring revenue from them. Unlike advanced chips, training data faces no U.S. export controls.

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