Google Buys Spirit Airline’s Old Data For $10 Million

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  "company": {
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    "domain": "spirit.com"
  },
  "data": {
    "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwerner/2026/08/18/google-buys-spirit-airlines-old-data-for-10-million/",
    "title": "Google Buys Spirit Airline’s Old Data For $10 Million",
    "assets": "real-world data",
    "author": "John Werner, Contributor",
    "excerpt": "By John Werner , Contributor. Google has acquired a vast trove of real-world data from the defunct Spirit Airlines for $10 million, a strategic move to train its AI models without legal repercussions. The purchase includes 10 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, alongside other internal company documents. To address privacy concerns, Google will \"scrub\" personal information, and sensitive data like 100 million passenger profiles and 50 million loyalty program records are explicitly excluded. This acquisition contrasts with past lawsuits faced by other AI firms over pirated data, showcasing Google's \"honest\" approach to sourcing valuable operational data. The high demand for such real data was also evident from other bidders, underscoring its market value for advanced AI development. Meanwhile, Spirit's planes are stored in Arizona, and employees are using a platform called Kitty Hawk for job networking. Over the past few years, the term “synthetic data” has come up a lot, as planners think about how to source inputs for AI engines. But in reality, there’s no substitute for the real thing. The problem is: where to get all of the data that’s needed. Many remember the spate of lawsuits against Anthropic, for pirating book data, some of which are still going on. That’s an example of where not to get information, in order to avoid triggering massive legal conflicts...",
    "summary": "The defunct Spirit Airlines sold a vast trove of its real-world data to Google for $10 million as part of a bankruptcy sale.",
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    "image_url": "https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/6a84ade8f97cf627f8ccab99/0x0.jpg?format=jpg&height=900&width=1600&fit=bounds",
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