Public partnerships show that some licensing routes exist; they do not show who is purchasing your specific archive today. Build a dated map of procurement evidence rather than a list of AI brands.
Microsoft's February 2026 Publisher Content Marketplace announcement describes publisher-defined terms for grounding scenarios and a pilot expansion. It supports investigating that route, not forecasting a sale. Microsoft — Building Toward a Sustainable Content Economy for the Agentic Web, 3 February 2026
For each prospective buyer or intermediary, collect:
- The purchasing legal entity and the person authorised to progress procurement.
- Modality, subject domain, language and intended use.
- Evidence date, procurement stage, budget status and source of the claim.
- Required coverage, freshness, delivery format and acceptance test.
- Whether the route is direct, represented, collective or platform-based.
Use four labels: announced historical deal, current requirement confirmed, exploratory discussion, or unverified claim. A historical transaction belongs in the first category until someone supplies new evidence. For a specialist engineering archive, ask what question the buyer cannot answer adequately with its existing data and how your sample will test that gap. An inability to name the task is a reason to limit preparation spending.