Key facts
- Google is acquiring internal business data from Spirit Airlines for $10 million.
- The data includes employee emails, Microsoft Teams messages, spreadsheets, calendars, marketing, productivity, and operations data.
- The data will be de-identified before sale, containing no customer information.
- Spirit Airlines also received a $7.5 million bid from AI data company Mercor.
- Spirit Airlines is selling off assets in bankruptcy after ceasing operations in May.
Alphabet's Google is set to acquire a substantial trove of internal business data from the bankrupt Spirit Airlines for $10 million. The deal, which requires approval from a U.S. bankruptcy judge, includes employee emails, Microsoft Teams messages, spreadsheets, calendars, and various operational and marketing data. Google plans to utilize this de-identified information for product development and to train its artificial intelligence models.
Spirit Airlines, which ceased operations in May due to financial difficulties, also received a $7.5 million bid from Mercor, an AI data company, for its data assets. The acquisition by Google encompasses data spanning nearly four decades, including approximately 3.4 million payroll records, 100 million emails, and proprietary systems like pricing algorithms and booking data.
This transaction raises questions about how travel data can power AI development and sets a potential precedent for monetizing data assets from distressed carriers. The scope of personal data included and privacy considerations are also points of discussion.