Why Spirit Airlines’ internal data has become a hot commodity for AI companies

Spirit Airlines, which ceased operations in May 2022 amid bankruptcy proceedings, may soon generate substantial revenue from its internal data assets. The airborne carrier has become a sought-after commodity among artificial intelligence (AI) companies due to the valuable information contained within its corporate records. Google secured the data for $10 million, although AI training provider Micro1 has submitted a competing bid for $12.5 million.

The data, which includes internal wikis, emails, source code, and spreadsheets, could be utilized to train AI in handling office work in realistic business environments. Google assures that no personally identifiable information from the dataset will be retained, as it will be processed for privacy by a third-party "deidentification agent."

However, the Spirit flight attendant union has expressed concerns over the sale, arguing that even anonymized data could potentially reveal employee identities. The bidding war for Spirit's data reflects a broader trend among companies building and refining AI systems, as they seek to acquire datasets from both defunct and operational businesses.

These records can aid in training AI to function in realistic business settings, according to AI training company Mercor. As AI companies prioritize the acquisition of such corporate data, privacy advocates remain cautious, warning of the potential exposure of sensitive employee and customer information, even after anonymization processes.