Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
They say data is the new gold, particularly when it comes to training AI models. Google has just won a bid to acquire a large collection of Spirit Airlines’ internal business data and technology assets for $10 million, or over Rs 95 crore. The company plans to use this data to train AI.
This bid was part of a bankruptcy auction after Spirit Airlines went defunct in May this year. Google was the highest bidder, with AI startup Mercor coming second with a $7.5 million bid (roughly Rs 71.75 lakh). The deal still requires approval from a US bankruptcy judge, with a hearing scheduled for August 19. In case the deal is not approved, Mercor is the backup buyer.
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Google to use data to train AI
Google has confirmed that it plans to use the data from Spirit Airlines to train AI models. “We acquired part of an enterprise dataset from Spirit Airlines, which can be helpful in improving our products and AI models,” the company said in a statement quoted by Axios.
But as per court filings, the data will be de-identified before the transfer is completed so that it cannot be linked to individual people. “We will not receive any personal information from this dataset. Any data we receive will be rigorously scrubbed of any personally identifiable information by a third party before receipt,” Google says. That is, while Google will use the data to train AI models, it will not be able to link any information to any individual.
The data from Spirit Airlines includes de-identified business records, including over 100 million employee emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, spreadsheets, calendars and other operational data from the bankrupt airline.
Pricing data, millions of lines of code
The wider dataset also covers marketing materials, human resources records, strategy and project management files, financial databases, audits, fraud-related material, revenue data, aircraft operations records and employee productivity information. Filings also refer to pricing data covering 7.2 billion competitor flights, about 7.5 billion passenger transaction records dating back to 2008, and pricing curve data.
The purchase also includes roughly 30 million lines of code, development metadata, software models and algorithms, along with more than 175,000 employee records dating back to 1986.
At the same time, the sale does not include personal data or privileged materials, including Spirit’s 97.5 million passenger profiles and an estimated 50.2 million records linked to its Free Spirit loyalty programme.
In case you are unaware, Spirit Airlines shut down on May 2 during its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in two years after mounting debt. The low-cost airline had around $8.1 billion in debt and laid off roughly 17,000 employees when it ceased operations.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
