Google is profiled here as an AI lab[1]. Data types cited in this profile include: Email, Slack/Teams, Revenue records, Aircraft operations records, Employee productivity records, Audit and fraud records (reported)[2].
$10.0 million (Spirit deidentified data; successful bid at the August 14, 2026 auction) (reported)[7]$60 million per year (Reddit content, reported 2024)[6]
Pricing basis
Cash bid (Spirit data sale) (reported)[8]Paid licensing for delivery and use of content (news publishers)[3]
Payment timing
Not published
How to start
By invitation to a select group of Google Play app developers, through outreach on behalf of the Google Partnerships team (confidential code pilot) (reported)[9]
What they buy
What they buy: Google
Data types
Email, Slack/Teams, Revenue records, Aircraft operations records, Employee productivity records, Audit and fraud records (reported)[2]Docs/wiki, Code (reported)[10]Code (reported)[9]Publisher content[3]Closed and offline datasets; Datasets in science, mathematics and learning contexts (prioritized)[1]
Excluded
Spirit deal excludes personal data and privileged materials, including 97.5 million passenger profiles and ~50.2 million Free Spirit loyalty records[2]Google agreed to exclude additional datasets from the Spirit transaction: PNR/transaction data, refunds, inflight/onboard purchases, timecard information and WiFi sales[8]
Intended use
AI model training (Spirit data, per Google counsel to the consumer privacy ombudsman) (reported)[8]Product and service development, from understanding complex logic to developing coding evals and benchmarks (code pilot) (reported)[9]New AI features, e.g. in-depth article overviews on Google News publisher pages and customizable audio briefings (news licensing)[3]
$10.0 million (Spirit deidentified data; successful bid at the August 14, 2026 auction) (reported)[7]$60 million per year (Reddit content, reported 2024)[6]
Pricing basis
Cash bid (Spirit data sale) (reported)[8]Paid licensing for delivery and use of content (news publishers)[3]
Payment timing
Not published
Seller fees
Buyer (Google) bears the cost of the deidentification agent (Spirit deal) (reported)[8]
Platform's cut
Not published
Referral bounty
Not published
Deal terms
Deal terms: Google
Deal structure
Sale of deidentified data under a bill of sale between Spirit Airlines, LLC and Google LLC (Spirit)[8]Non-exclusive license; developer retains IP rights to their code (code pilot) (reported)[9]
Under the CCPA deidentification standard adopted for the Spirit sale, the purchaser publicly commits to maintain and use the data without attempting reidentification; the successful bid incorporates this[7]
Onward transfer
Onward transfers of the Spirit data are contractually barred unless the recipient makes the same public commitment (not to attempt reidentification)[7]
Seller keeps ownership
Yes for the code pilot: developer keeps 100% of IP and may monetize elsewhere (reported)[9]
Privacy and data handling
Privacy and data handling: Google
De-identification
Independent deidentification agent Tonic.ai engaged for the unstructured Spirit data; structured passenger databases removed entirely[7]Google bears the cost of the deidentification agent, described as "an independent party selected by the Debtors"; certified deidentification is a closing condition under the Sale Agreement[8]Deidentification under the CCPA standard and, for protected health information, 45 C.F.R. § 164.514, while preserving referential integrity across the data set[8]
Raw data deletion
Not published
Certifications
Not published
Personal data handling
Google says it is not buying personal information; data is excluded or deidentified by an independent third party before Google receives it[12]
Process
Process: Google
Steps
Certified deidentification (a closing condition under the sale agreement)
Before the first and every later transfer, the deidentification agent files an affidavit with the Court certifying that court-approved procedures were followed and the data is deidentified
By invitation to a select group of Google Play app developers, through outreach on behalf of the Google Partnerships team (confidential code pilot) (reported)[9]
Track record
Named deals
Spirit Airlines deidentified data: $10 million sale, supported by the Consumer Privacy Ombudsman; sale hearing moved to November 6, 2026 (as of Oct 2026)[7]
Reddit content licensing deal to train Google's AI models (2024, reported)[6]
Associated Press real-time feed for the Gemini app (Jan 2025)[13]
News AI pilot licensing program: more than 400 publications, newest partners incl. Axios, CNN, The Financial Times, Forbes (Oct 2026)[3]
Coverage
MIT Technology Review on AI labs buying dead-startup data, citing the Spirit purchase[11]