Google Is Buying Spirit Airlines’ Data for $10 Million to Train AI
Spirit Airlines’ planes may be grounded for good, but years of data generated by the bankrupt carrier could soon have a second life inside Google’s artificial intelligence models.
Google has agreed to pay $10 million for a trove of Spirit’s corporate data, according to a deal disclosed in bankruptcy court late Monday. Judge Sean Lane is expected to rule on the proposed sale at a hearing Wednesday.
The purchase covers a wide range of information accumulated through the airline’s operations, including emails and other internal communications, spreadsheets, customer transactions, booking and frequent flyer records, and human resources information involving employees.
Spirit’s bankruptcy filing says the material has been stripped of information that could identify individuals.
A Google spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that it will not receive any personal information as part of the purchase.
“We acquired part of an enterprise dataset from Spirit Airlines, which can be helpful in improving our products and AI models.”
That means anyone who flew Spirit, worked for the airline or communicated with people there could have contributed in some form to the enormous collection of business information Google is buying, though the company is also claiming personally identifying details will not be included.
The data drew interest from more than one artificial intelligence company. Mercor.io, an AI company, submitted the second-highest bid at $7.5 million before Google prevailed with its $10 million offer.
The competition for Spirit’s records comes as artificial intelligence plays a growing role in the airline industry. Numerous carriers have said they are increasingly using AI to set fares, improve scheduling and make other parts of their operations more efficient.
Spirit’s data became available under circumstances that are relatively rare in the airline business.
The discount carrier halted all operations in May and has spent the months since selling what remains of the company through the bankruptcy process. Much of what is being liquidated is what might be expected from a defunct airline — planes, equipment and real estate — but its years of accumulated information also proved valuable enough to attract multimillion-dollar bids from technology companies.
Usually, a major airline’s bankruptcy ends differently.
Failing carriers are often acquired by another airline, with their aircraft, operations and corporate records absorbed into the buyer’s existing business. Their data consequently changes hands as part of the larger acquisition rather than being auctioned off as a standalone asset.
Spirit did not find such a buyer.
Instead, it became the first significant U.S. airline in about 25 years to be forced to stop flying altogether rather than being purchased and folded into another carrier.
That unusual collapse has allowed pieces of the former airline to be sold separately to buyers with little connection to commercial aviation—including, in Google’s case, a company interested in using Spirit’s anonymized business records to help improve AI.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.