The AI startup micro1 has proposed a $12.5 million offer for Spirit’s records, surpassing Google’s previously agreed offer of $10 million.

      The AI training data firm micro1 has proposed $12.5 million for the internal records of Spirit Aviation, exceeding Google's previously agreed amount of $10 million. They also suggested that an ombudsman chosen by Spirit's advisers, rather than the buyer, oversee the process. Under European law, the promise of deidentification is viewed as a matter of capability rather than just a label, but this does not apply in the context of an American liquidation.

      micro1's $12.5 million bid for the records of the defunct airline, which is $2.5 million more than Google's offer, was revealed in a court filing reported by Bloomberg News on Thursday. Spirit Aviation Holdings ceased operations in May and is currently in liquidation. The records being offered include 500 million Microsoft Teams items, 100 million emails, and about 16 million customer chat sessions.

      Last month, TNW reported that as part of the agreement with Google, Spirit is required to provide the material to parties designated by the buyer. Google selected and financed the deidentification firm, with that expense not deducted from the purchase price.

      micro1's proposal directly addresses this, proposing an ombudsman selected by Spirit's own advisers and stating that the data would be stored in the United States. The court filing also specifies that disciplinary and investigatory materials, as well as anything related to collective bargaining with unions representing Spirit employees, are excluded. These unions have already raised privacy concerns about the Google sale.

      Google claims it will not access any personal data from the dataset and intends to hire a third party to eliminate sensitive customer information. A judge is set to review the purchase on September 9.

      Typically, courts do not reopen auctions that have concluded, which creates a procedural challenge for micro1 rather than an issue of pricing.

      One complicating factor regarding the premium is that Google's agreement excludes customer chat sessions, loyalty records, and call recordings, yet micro1's offer includes approximately 16 million sessions.

      In Europe, the situation would not hinge on the term "deidentified." The Court of Justice determined last September that whether pseudonymised data is considered personal data depends on the ability of the recipient to identify individuals. This relates to capability rather than mere terminology. The Google contract mandates maintaining referential integrity, ensuring that pseudonymous records remain linked across systems.

      The European Data Protection Board has also indicated that a model trained on personal data is not automatically considered anonymous, and regulators may investigate the legality of how the training data was sourced. Similarly, the principle of purpose limitation would apply, as records generated for operating aircraft and compensating 17,000 staff were not intended for training models, and reusing them in the EU would necessitate distinct legal grounds.

      However, these considerations are irrelevant here. Spirit's estate is being dissolved under American law, which is why this situation represents a bidding competition rather than a regulatory issue, and explains why EU data regulations would have shifted it to that realm.