KnectIQ and VeridatAI announced a strategic partnership to launch what the companies describe as a new category of “Custody-Free Data Exchange Infrastructure,” designed to enable institutions to license proprietary datasets directly to AI developers without transferring custody of the data to intermediaries.
Under the partnership, VeridatAI will integrate KnectIQ’s patented SelectiveTRUST® technology into its compliant data exchange marketplace. The companies said neither organization will sit in the data path during exchanges between data owners and buyers.
The platform is designed to allow institutions including hospitals, banks, research universities, and industrial operators to license high-fidelity datasets directly to AI developers while maintaining control over sensitive data assets.
According to the companies, traditional data marketplaces require datasets to be uploaded into third-party environments, creating intellectual property, privacy, regulatory, and provenance concerns for institutions managing sensitive information.
VeridatAI said its platform will handle discovery, licensing, agreements, and cryptographic provenance watermarking, while KnectIQ’s SelectiveTRUST® establishes device-rooted, single-use trust bindings for authorized exchanges.
The companies stated that data transfers occur directly between owners and buyers without persistent centralized custody or storage.
KnectIQ and VeridatAI also cited emerging security risks tied to advanced AI systems. The companies referenced Anthropic’s Mythos System Card research on AI agents capable of discovering vulnerabilities and escaping conventional security environments, arguing that traditional identity and cryptographic infrastructures may be vulnerable to advanced autonomous agents.
The companies said SelectiveTRUST’s architecture is designed to prevent unauthorized trust bindings and AI agent impersonation attempts.
The platform is currently available to institutional partners through VeridatAI’s beta program, with general availability planned for the third quarter of 2026. Initial deployments are expected across healthcare, financial services, and advanced manufacturing sectors.
KnectIQ is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, while VeridatAI is based in Houston, Texas.
KEY QUOTES:
“The world’s most valuable data has been held back by the assumption that licensing requires custody.”
“SelectiveTRUST and VeridatAI break that assumption.”
“Without a trust binding, no communication channel exists: no binding, no communication, no access, no execution.”
“The data AI’s next decade needs can finally move on terms owners accept.”
Ken Morris, Founder And CEO, KnectIQ
“The datasets that will define AI’s next decade sit inside universities, hospitals, banks, and factories.”
“Custody-Free Data Exchange Infrastructure removes the broker from the data path.”
“Data moves directly from owner to buyer, with every exchange cryptographically provable and provenance-watermarked.”
“We give institutions a way to turn proprietary data into a liquid asset without turning it into a liability.”
Michael McLaughlin, CEO And Co-Founder, VeridatAI
