SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, is exploring a different way to obtain data needed for its AI models: buying customer information and operational data from companies that are on the brink of bankruptcy or have ceased operations. This approach could give SpaceXAI access to large volumes of data at lower cost, but it also raises questions about the privacy of that information.
According to ITNA quoting Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said SpaceXAI's AI team has begun informal internal discussions about buying data from bankrupt or failing companies. It is not yet clear whether these reviews will ultimately lead to a deal.
This idea had earlier been raised regarding Spirit Airlines. After that company suspended operations, Google offered $10 million to buy its commercial data to use the information for AI training purposes. That proposal faced concerns about data privacy, and some former Spirit Airlines flight attendants reacted to it.
SpaceXAI, previously known as xAI, is trying to find more sources to train its AI models. In addition to operating in space and satellite communications, the company competes in the competitive AI market with firms like Anthropic and OpenAI and seeks to attract more commercial customers.
People familiar with the matter say operational data and customer information from various companies could be among the datasets under consideration by SpaceXAI for training the Grok model. Access to such data could help the company improve its models' performance across a wide range of tasks.
This approach comes after SpaceXAI previously relied, in addition to using internal specialists known as "AI trainers," on data from the social network X to train and improve its AI systems.
AI trainers still participate in parts of the model development process and help engineers improve system performance in areas such as finance, science, and even humor. However, Bloomberg reported in June that SpaceXAI had stopped hiring AI trainers and subsequently made changes to the company's leadership structure.
If SpaceXAI ultimately moves to buy data from bankrupt companies, the manner of transferring and using customer information could become one of the most significant challenges of such deals-especially since using data from shuttered companies to train AI has previously raised privacy concerns.