Google pays $10M to get its hands on Spirit Airlines’ business data for AI training

Alphabet Inc.'s Google has secured a $10 million deal to obtain massive amounts of internal business data from Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy. According to Bloomberg, Google outbid competitors, including AI training company Mercor.io Corp., to acquire the data. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed that Google now owns a vast collection of information from Spirit, including 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, 30 million lines of code, software algorithms, development metadata, and data on revenue, aircraft operations, and employee productivity.

Most of the data Google acquired pertains to Spirit's internal operations and does not include passenger profiles or loyalty program records. Google assured that the data will be thoroughly scrubbed of personally identifiable information by a third-party service provider before it is accessed. The tech giant sees value in the data for enhancing its AI products and models.

The demand for proprietary business data has surged as companies seek to improve their AI capabilities. In April, Gizmodo reported on the growing market for failed startups selling off their data to AI firms. Mercor.io Corp., which lost the auction, is part of this emerging market that offers professionals cash in exchange for data from their former employers.

AI companies are willing to pay significant sums for this type of data, as they require vast amounts to develop AI models that surpass human performance. Google, OpenAI Group PBC, and Anthropic PBC have already secured much of the freely available online data, leading to concerns about a scarcity of fresh data. Without access to new data, it will become increasingly challenging to enhance existing AI systems. As a reminder, support theCUBE's mission to keep content open and free by participating in the theCUBE community.