100M Emails, 500M Chats: Google's Bid for Bankrupt Spirit Airlines' Data to Train AI Raises Privacy Alarm

Google's $10 million bid for bankrupt Spirit Airlines' internal business, including 100 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, has triggered a privacy dispute involving more than 120 US lawmakers who warn that sensitive employee information could be exposed in the race to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

The proposed acquisition has drawn scrutiny from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Steven Horsford, who are urging Google and Spirit to exclude employee records from the transaction as far as possible. The concerns extend beyond passenger information to the confidential workplace communications, payroll records, and employment documents created by thousands of former airline workers.

Spirit's operations ceased in May 2026, and its assets are being liquidated through bankruptcy proceedings. Google won an auction for the Spirit's internal business data in August, but the proposed sale still requires approval from a US bankruptcy court, with a hearing scheduled for 14th October.

The information Google seeks also reportedly includes timecards, payroll and tax records, employment contracts, and other workplace documents. Such records can contain highly sensitive details, including medical information and requests for workplace accommodations, according to lawmakers.

The concern is that employees supplied this information because their jobs required it, not because they agreed to have it sold to a technology company for AI development. Lawmakers warned that commercialising workplace records for AI training raises questions about confidentiality and whether existing privacy protections are adequate for increasingly sophisticated AI systems.

Google Says Personal Data Will Be De-Identified

Google has said it is not seeking to purchase personal information from Spirit Airlines. A company spokesperson told Reuters that information would either be completely excluded from the transaction or de-identified by an independent third party before Google receives it. The company added that it was working with the court-appointed privacy ombudsman.

Passenger privacy has already been examined separately during the bankruptcy process. A court-appointed consumer privacy ombudsman recommended approval of the proposed sale after steps were taken to exclude passenger databases and reduce the risk of exposing personal information associated with around 97 million customers.

Those safeguards are significant, but they do not settle the separate concerns surrounding former employees. The ombudsman's consumer privacy review did not assess potential privacy risks to employees, according to Business Insider.

Despite de-identification assurance from Google, privacy advocates and employee representatives have raised concerns about whether safeguards are sufficient when large datasets contain linked records and detailed workplace histories.

The earlier objections to the Spirit transaction included concerns that preserving connections between datasets could make it possible to reconstruct information about individuals or small groups. Such concerns are particularly relevant when records from emails, messaging platforms, and employment systems are combined.

Unions Warn the Data Sale Could Affect Workers Across the Economy

Labour representatives have also criticised the proposed transaction, arguing that its implications extend beyond Spirit Airlines.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told Reuters that the conditions attached to the sale could have significant consequences for workers across the economy.

The concerns are especially sensitive in aviation, where employee records may relate to training, operational procedures, and safety reporting. Representatives of pilots and flight attendants have questioned whether transferring such information to an AI developer could undermine workers' confidence that sensitive workplace disclosures will remain confidential.

These objections do not establish that the sale would compromise aviation safety. However, they underline the importance of determining what information can be transferred, how it will be protected, and whether the restrictions are enforceable.

For Google, the deal offers access to a vast collection of internal business information that could help improve its products and AI models.