Google Outbids Mercor to Acquire Spirit Airlines' $10 Million Data Trove

Alphabet's Google has outbid rival Mercor to acquire Spirit Airlines' internal corporate data trove for $10 million. The dataset includes over 100 million company emails, approximately 500 million Microsoft Teams chat messages, and 30 million lines of code. This acquisition marks one of the largest known purchases of a bankrupt company's proprietary data for artificial intelligence training purposes.

The transaction involves Spirit Airlines' internal communications, software code, operational records, marketing materials, human resources information, and financial databases. Google plans to use this information to enhance its products and AI models, including the Gemini suite. The company has committed to deidentifying the data before transfer, removing or transforming elements that could link information to individuals.

The acquisition excludes customer-facing data, with Spirit Airlines retaining the right to keep copies of the data for winding down its business and complying with legal obligations. The auction was competitive, with Mercor initially bidding $5.2 million and Google eventually securing the deal with a $10 million offer.