Google Aims to Boost AI with Purchase of Spirit Airlines Data

Google Aims to Boost AI With Purchase of Spirit Airlines Data

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Google LLC won a bankruptcy auction for a trove of deindentified business data, software code, and operations records from collapsed low-cost carrier Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc., saying it plans to use the assets to improve its artificial intelligence. The tech giant’s $10 million bid includes a vast repository of the defunct airline’s data, including 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams chats and collaboration records, plus information related to revenue, aircraft operations, employee productivity, and audits and fraud, according to an Aug. 14 notice in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Google’s purchase doesn’t include personal data and privileged materials like Spirit’s 97.5 million passenger profiles or an estimated 50.2 million records related to the Free Spirit loyalty program data, according to court records. The data will also go through a process to ensure that it can’t be associated with particular customers, according to the court filing. Google won’t be receiving any personal information and the data will be “rigorously scrubbed of any personally identifiable information by a third party before receipt,” it said in a statement Monday. “We acquired part of an enterprise dataset from Spirit Airlines, which can be helpful in improving our products and AI models,” Google said. Florida-based Spirit shut down on May 2 amid its second Chapter 11 in two years due to surging fuel prices and failed financing talks. The airline filed for bankruptcy with about about $8.1 billion in debt and laid off roughly 17,000 employees when it shut down. The cache includes data related to marketing campaigns, human resources, strategy, and project management. Also included is pricing from 7.2 billion competitor flights, an estimated 7.5 billion passenger transaction records going back to 2008, and pricing curve data, according to court records. Google’s purchase also includes about 30 million lines of code, development metadata, and software models and algorithms. The purchase also includes more than 175,000 employee records dating back to 1986. Google beat out a $7.5 million offer from AI talent recruiting company Mercor.io Corp., which was named the backup buyer if the Google sale falls through. The airline last month secured bankruptcy court approval to sell its 22 takeoff and landing slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport for $58.5 million to JetBlue Airways Corp. A sale hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19 in front of Judge Sean Lane. Spirit is represented by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Google is represented by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Mercor.io is represented by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. The case is Spirit Aviation Holdings, Bankr. S.D.N.Y., No. 25-11897, notice 8/14/26.

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Google Aims to Boost AI with Purchase of Spirit Airlines Data

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