Google Buys Defunct Spirit Airlines Enterprise Data in $10M Bankruptcy Auction to Train AI

Google has won a $10 million bankruptcy auction for Spirit Airlines’ internal corporate data and custom software, according to bankruptcy filings and reporting published Aug. 17, 2026. The package includes about 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, calendars, documents, spreadsheets, marketing materials, human-resources information, financial databases, audits and presentations. Google told Business Insider the information and software could help improve its products and AI models. The company is not acquiring Spirit’s customer or credit-card information, while court documents say the transferred data will be deidentified and the buyer cannot attempt to reidentify individuals. AI training company Mercor was the next-highest bidder at $7.5 million. The transaction remains subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy judge. Spirit ceased operations May 2 after failing to emerge from its second Chapter 11 case. Additional claims about billions of flight records, employment files and software lines were not verified in available sources.