Google Wins Auction for Spirit Airlines Data at $10 Million

Google has won an auction for Spirit Airlines' deidentified data at $10 million, raising questions about whether AI developers should be able to buy operational information generated by employees and customers. The dataset includes extensive records of employee activity, customer interactions, and internal conversations.

The sale still requires approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which has been postponed until September 9 due to an objection from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), representing Spirit's former flight attendants.

The AFA argues that employees need stronger protections around how their information can be used by AI developers. The union claims that removing a person's name does not necessarily remove the sensitivity of the information contained within it.