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Google's $10 million plan to buy Spirit's data and use it to train AI cleared one of its last big hurdles

· Business Insider

Spirit Airlines ceased operations in May.

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  • After Spirit Airlines shut down, Google won the bid to pay $10 million for a vast data trove.
  • The sale has been held up in bankruptcy court over privacy concerns.
  • But unions reached a deal with Google and withdrew their objections, clearing the way for the sale.

Google's plan to acquire a vast trove of data from Spirit Airlines to train its AI models is one step closer after it cleared a key privacy hurdle.

The Association of Flight Attendants said Tuesday that alongside other unions it had reached a deal to protect the personal data of former Spirit staff. It called the agreement "an historic win for worker privacy protections."

After Spirit shut down in May, its assets were put up for auction. Google won the bid to pay $10 million for data including 500 million Microsoft Teams chats, 100 million emails, and other internal documents. Google has said the data would help improve its products and AI models.

But the sale has been held up in bankruptcy court over privacy concerns, particularly regarding details of staff and customers held by Spirit.

Last month, 121 members of Congress, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, raised concerns about the deal. A court-appointed privacy ombudsman recommended the deal be approved after personal information about 97 million Spirit customers was excluded.

Aviation unions and public-interest groups withdrew their objections to the sale on Monday night after reaching a deal with Google about Spirit employees' data.

They agreed on excluding data covering employees' medical and disability history, drug or alcohol testing records, payroll records, and more, the AFA said.

The union also said it had won a more rigorous de-identification process than previously planned, and Google is prohibited from attempting to reidentify the data.

"Worker data privacy in the age of AI has become a whole new worker's rights issue," said Sara Nelson, international president of the AFA-CWA.

"Without our union, there would have been no one to speak for workers in this fire sale of their private information. We fought and we won brand new protections," she added.

"Now we will take this issue to all of our employers to secure contractual protections, and demand lawmakers protect workers everywhere through federal and state law."

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, the company said it was "not looking to buy any personal information from Spirit," Reuters reported.

"The information will either be completely excluded or will be de-identified by an independent third party before Google receives any data," it added.

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Group of boys accused of targeting one Oztag player during brawl: police update

· Canberra Times

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Classified US Memo Raises National Security Concerns Over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Alleged Links To Chinese Intelligence Operative

· Free Press Journal

Washington: A confidential alarm has been sounded at the highest levels of government. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick received a highly classified memo issuing a stark warning regarding Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang and his association with Alice Huang, an individual suspected of operating as a Chinese intelligence asset, according to Axios.

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Building on these disclosures, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed President Donald Trump on intelligence indicating that the Nvidia chief executive was involved in an association with an operative suspected of gathering intelligence for Beijing while both officials travelled aboard Air Force One towards China in May, a source familiar with the matter revealed to CNN.

President Trump publicly stated on Monday that he was unaware of the allegations during that period. During an impromptu White House press conference, he maintained that he had first learnt of the situation "not too long ago" and noted that federal investigators were reviewing the circumstances.

Nvidia Hires Top US Law Firm To Investigate CEO Jensen Huang's Alleged Link To Chinese Spy

However, the source indicated to CNN that the intelligence was discussed before Huang joined the presidential party during an Alaskan layover, where the tech leader boarded the aircraft alongside senior aides and business executives for the final leg of the flight to Beijing.

While a White House representative directed inquiries to the president's public remarks and dismissed the reporting, stating that "these sources have no idea what they're talking about", The New York Times initially disclosed that the president became aware of the intelligence during the overseas mission.

The unfolding controversy has focused intense attention on the prominent advisory role Huang maintained regarding domestic artificial intelligence regulations and trade frameworks with Beijing, even as federal counterintelligence agencies monitored the interactions between the executive and Alice Huang, a senior representative at a Singapore-domiciled technology firm who is unrelated to the Nvidia chief executive.

Microsoft Overtakes Nvidia As World's Second-Most Valuable Company Amid Jensen Huang Controversy

Consequently, senior administration officials convened earlier on Monday with key members of the congressional intelligence oversight panel, known as the Gang of Eight, to review the classified assessments concerning the executive's association, as reported by CNN.

While the private briefing was originally structured to examine ongoing developments in the Middle East, lawmakers were informed of warnings issued to congressional leaders by the Federal Bureau of Investigation nearly a year earlier regarding potential intelligence risks.

Reacting to the developments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun dismissed the allegations regarding information gathering as "purely groundless speculation and an attempt to smear and malign China".

In response to the widening fallout, incoming congressional leaders have signalled extensive inquiries into the matter following the legislative transition in January, with lawmakers emphasising the critical national security implications surrounding advanced semiconductor exports and regulatory decision-making processes.

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(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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