U.S. lawmakers oppose Google’s purchase of Spirit Airlines employee data

More than 120 members of the U.S. Congress, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Steven Horsford, have raised concerns regarding Google’s acquisition of internal data from the insolvent Spirit Airlines.

As part of the bankruptcy liquidation process, Google emerged as the highest bidder in an August 2026 auction, agreeing to pay $10 million for Spirit’s digital archives. The dataset is intended to train and optimize Google’s artificial intelligence models and includes an estimated 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, personnel files, chat logs, and operational spreadsheets.

Critics argue the sale threatens the privacy of the approximately 17,000 former employees. Concerns include the potential for AI to reconstruct sensitive personal information even if names are removed, and the fact that the data contains records—such as mental health accommodations and union grievances—that were subject to confidentiality agreements under previous collective bargaining arrangements.