SpaceX has internally discussed buying leftover customer files from startups that have already gone out of business, rather than licensing data from companies that are still operating and can refuse, according to people familiar with the talks cited by Bloomberg.
The conversations are taking place inside SpaceXAI, the artificial intelligence division created in February when SpaceX merged with xAI. The people said the talks are informal and may not lead anywhere, but the idea fits the economics of an AI lab trying to secure more training material.
Why the data matters for Grok
The aim, as described in the report, is to find cheaper fuel for Grok. AI models learn from training data such as text, code, and business records, and higher-quality material is becoming more expensive. Real operating records from companies can be more useful than scraped web pages, while the digital estate of a failed company may be available at a lower price.
Bloomberg said SpaceXAI is interested in operational data and customer information from startups in that position so Grok can keep learning how real businesses function.
Google has already taken a similar route
Decrypt noted that Google has already done something similar. The company paid $10 million in a bankruptcy auction for the internal records of Spirit Airlines, the discount carrier that shut down for good this year.
The records included about 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, and decades of employee files. The report said that material is headed into an AI training pipeline.
Privacy objections are still playing out in court
The data belonged to employees who signed up for jobs, not for AI experiments. A flight attendants’ union objected in bankruptcy court, arguing that removing names from records, or de-identifying the data, would not stop someone from reconstructing who said what across a decade of internal chats.
That court fight is still ongoing.
Bankruptcy can turn databases into auction assets
The report also described how Chapter 11 bankruptcy treats a customer database much like office furniture when assets are liquidated to pay creditors. It can be auctioned to the highest bidder.
Customers are not typically asked for consent at that stage. By the time the sale closes, the company is often gone, leaving no operating entity for them to challenge.
Musk also talked about using internal company data
In August, Musk told a SpaceX all-hands meeting that the company would go beyond buying outside data and would also mine its own. 「It will inherit your thoughts,」 he reportedly told employees.
He presented that as a feature rather than a flaw, telling staff to think of themselves as raising the model because it would absorb their outlook along with their work. The report said he did not specify which categories of employee data would be used or how they would be used.
Grok 4.5 launched in July
SpaceX released Grok 4.5 in July, its first model since the xAI merger closed. The report also mentioned another Musk-owned transaction, the $60 billion Cursor acquisition, and a delayed new version of Grok that is expected in the near term.