Google Wins Spirit Airlines Data Assets for $10 Million

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Google has secured the data assets of U.S. low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines in a bankruptcy auction with a $10 million bid, including approximately 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams chat records, which will be used for AI training.

According to bankruptcy proceedings documents, the data package involved in this deal also includes software and pricing information. Google stated that before the data is transferred, all personally identifiable information will be removed by another company. In a statement to financial news outlet Bloomberg, the company noted that this dataset could help "improve our products and AI models."

This acquisition aligns with the recent trend of AI companies training models by acquiring corporate internal communications, sometimes sourced from defunct startups. One approach involves enhancing AI capabilities by simulating real-world business processes. In this Spirit Airlines data auction, the lower bidder was AI company Mercor, which offered $7.5 million.

Spirit Airlines ceased operations in early May. The low-cost carrier entered bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than 12 months, following its initial filing in August of last year. The company originally planned to emerge from bankruptcy with lower debt levels in the summer, but those plans were disrupted by a sharp surge in kerosene prices amid the Iran war. Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis stated that the "sudden and sustained" rise in oil prices left no option other than to cease operations.