Overview
- Google topped a bankruptcy auction to buy Spirit’s enterprise archive for $10 million, outbidding AI data firm Mercor which was named the backup buyer.
- The package covers vast internal records useful for AI training, including roughly 100 million emails, about 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, and roughly 30 million lines of code.
- The sale explicitly excludes passenger profiles and loyalty accounts, and the agreement requires an independent third party to de‑identify records before Google receives them.
- Employee representatives have filed objections in court over the sale and data use, and those challenges have delayed final transfer while the bankruptcy judge reviews protections.
- The deal highlights a growing market for failed companies’ internal data to train AI and raises questions about how effective de‑identification and contract bans on re‑identification will be in practice.