Lawmakers raise alarm at Google plan to acquire Spirit Airlines data for AI models

On October 8, over 120 U.S. lawmakers expressed alarm over Alphabet's Google's plan to acquire Spirit Airlines' internal data for a mere $10 million to fuel artificial intelligence models. The auction, held in August, saw Google secure data from Spirit's spreadsheets, calendars, and marketing, productivity, and operations records following the airline's closure in May. Spirit had halted operations in May, leaving behind 97 million customer records.

A privacy ombudsman recommended on Monday that the U.S. bankruptcy judge approve the deal, with the understanding that passenger data would not be included. However, the lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Steven Horsford, raised concerns that the sale would encompass not only 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams messages but also other employee records.

The lawmakers emphasized that innovation should not come at the expense of workers' privacy or the confidentiality of their work-related information. They requested Google to exclude employee data from the transaction to the greatest extent possible. The lawmakers underscored the importance of keeping pace with privacy protections as AI's innovation becomes increasingly sophisticated.

Google, however, claimed it had no intention of acquiring personal information. The company affirmed that the data would either be excluded or de-identified by an independent third party before Google's possession. A Google spokesperson stated that they were already collaborating constructively with the appointed privacy ombudsman.

Moreover, union leaders voiced their apprehensions about the proposed sale. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, highlighted the significant implications the outcome of this sale could have for workers across the economy. Notably, Spirit also received a $7.5 million bid from Mercor, an AI data company, for the employee data. This week, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the $58.5 million sale of Spirit's slots at New York LaGuardia airport to JetBlue Airways.