Company Offering Printed Books To Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Following 404 Media's reporting that book database company ISBNdb claimed to source printed books to then sell to AI companies for AI training, the company deleted the part of its website offering the service and walked back claims that it would train AI models, and instead called it "a test of market interest." On July 30, nine days after 404…
ISBNdb, a company that has been providing book metadata services for over two decades, faced backlash after it was reported that it claimed to source printed books for AI training. Following the 404 Media report, ISBNdb removed the part of its website that offered this service and clarified that it had never purchased, scanned, or sold books for AI training.
The company stated that the page was merely a test of market interest and that no such service was ever implemented. ISBNdb emphasized that its primary function is to help users find books, and its mission remains focused on providing data about books, not the books themselves.
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