Google Bid $10 Million For Spirit Airlines' Corporate Data To Train AI

When Spirit Airlines finally collapsed and ceased operations in May, the defunct carrier owed $2 billion after its back-to-back bankruptcies. From repossessing its leased aircraft to selling off its slots at LaGuardia Airport, literally everything was up for grabs. Google placed a successful $10 million bid for Spirit Airlines' corporate data earlier this month. The American tech giant wants to use 34 years' worth of data to train AI systems. However, Spirit's former employees are fighting to protect their data.

The Association of Flight Attendants, the labor union representing 5,500 former Spirit flight attendants, filed an objection to the data sale to Google. According to Ars Technica, the union's lawyers argue Google's reassurances that the data wouldn't contain personally identifying information relied on consumer protection laws, which don't cover worker confidentiality. AFA added that the tech giant's move to strip personal info from data could be reversed by the AI itself by making the relevant connections from other databases. A bankruptcy court will decide whether or not to approve the sale to Google in early September.

While no customer information is available for purchase, the treasure trove of information that Google is attempting to acquire is worrying. The tech giant and any third party it sells the rights to would have access to over 175,000 employee records, along with employment contracts, crew pairing time-card records, tax records and email accounts. Every scrap of information will be handed over, down to Microsoft Teams records. Despite the airline's collapse, Google could use this information to train AI to run a commercial air carrier and replace middle management.

Even months later, there are still unanswered questions about Spirit Airlines' assets and financial liabilities. AFA also demanded $68 million in back pay, health care obligations and unpaid vacation. In July, JetBlue paid $58.5 million for the bankrupt airline's 22 slots at LaGuardia Airport in New York. While information is viewed just as much as a commodity in this speculative era of artificial intelligence, there should be a hard line between an employee's labor and their private data.