Google Snags Spirit Airlines' Internal Data for $10 Million

Alphabet's Google has won a bankruptcy auction for Spirit Airlines' internal business records, outbidding AI recruiting and data startup Mercor with a $10 million bid. The dataset includes roughly 100 million company emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, and 30 million lines of code.

The deal is not yet finalized as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York will review it on August 19, 2026. If Google's bid falls through, Mercor remains the backup buyer.

Google's acquisition of Spirit Airlines' internal records has sparked interest in the emerging market for data from dead companies. Frontier labs have been consuming most free text on the public internet, making real enterprise material scarce. The dataset includes pricing models, booking-curve data, and flight behavior data, as well as revenue, aircraft operations, and employee productivity records.

Spirit Airlines ceased operations in May 2026 after fuel costs undermined its Chapter 11 recovery. The airline's assets are being sold off piece by piece, with physical airport access fetching far more than the data trove.