Google Wins Auction for Spirit Airlines' Internal Business Records
Alphabet's Google has emerged as the winner of a bankruptcy auction for Spirit Airlines' internal business records, outbidding AI recruiting and data startup Mercor with a $10 million bid. The deal is not yet finalized, but if approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on August 19, 2026, Google will gain access to a vast dataset containing roughly 100 million company emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, and 30 million lines of code.
The acquisition is significant because it highlights the growing demand for high-quality data in the AI industry. According to court filings, the dataset includes sensitive information such as pricing models, booking-curve data, and flight behavior data, which could provide valuable insights for Google's product development and AI research.
Google has stated that it will 'rigorously scrub' the data of personal information with a third-party service provider. The company claims that the dataset can help improve its products and AI models.