Alphabet's $10M Purchase of Spirit Airlines' Data Delayed by Union Objection
A U.S. bankruptcy court has delayed a hearing to approve Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google in its purchase of internal business data from bankrupt Spirit Airlines for $10 million, following objections raised by the flight attendants’ union representing cabin crew members. The dataset includes employee emails, chat messages, spreadsheets, and operational records. While this small acquisition is a minor expense compared to Alphabet's broader AI investments—such as its revised 2026 infrastructure spending forecast of $195–$205 billion—it highlights growing concerns over the use of sensitive corporate data for training AI models without employee consent. The union argues that even anonymized records could be re-identified, posing privacy risks. Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines is attempting to recover value through asset sales as it winds down operations due to financial distress.
Topics: AI training data bankruptcy sale employee privacy union objection