Google Is Paying $10 Million to Use Spirit Airlines Data to Train Its AI Models

Google is paying $10 million for Spirit Airlines’ business data, including internal communications and company records that it plans to use to improve its AI models.

The deal includes emails, spreadsheets, bookings, frequent-flyer information, and employee human resources data, according to a report by CNN. The information will be stripped of details that could identify individuals before Google receives it.

“We acquired part of an enterprise dataset from Spirit Airlines, which can be helpful in improving our products and AI models,” a Google spokesperson told CNN. The company said it will not receive personal information through the purchase.

In a separate report, Reuters said that the data also includes Microsoft Teams messages and calendars, as well as marketing, productivity, and operations records.

Spirit halted operations in May and has been selling its remaining assets through bankruptcy. Airline bankruptcies typically end with another carrier buying the company, including its data.

Google faced competition for the data. AI data company Mercor reportedly submitted a $7.5 million bid.

The sale still requires court approval. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane is scheduled to consider the deal at a hearing Wednesday.

The sale comes as AI companies increasingly pay for access to data used to train and improve their models. In February 2024, Reddit gave Google access to nearly two decades of user-generated content in a deal reportedly worth $60 million a year. In May 2024, OpenAI reached its own agreement to bring Reddit content into ChatGPT.

More recently, in January, the Wikimedia Foundation announced agreements with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, and other AI companies for large-scale access to Wikipedia content.