Someone Is Mysteriously Snapping Up Used Books Around the World
Viral stories about AI companies supposedly destroying books sparked outrage online.
The recent controversy surrounding the alleged destruction of thousands of books by AI companies has sparked a global debate. Social media posts and news articles claimed that AI companies, including Anthropic and xAI, were destroying rare and valuable books by scanning them for data, leading to fears that out-of-print texts may be disappearing forever.
Media reports suggested that a company called ISBNdb was purchasing large volumes of books for AI training, but there is no concrete evidence linking ISBNdb to the recent wave of book purchases from booksellers. Some booksellers have reported receiving orders for large quantities of nonfiction books, mostly published between the 1970s and 1990s, which may be of limited interest or value to readers.
However, the true nature and purpose of these purchases remain unclear due to the lack of transparency from AI companies and the silence of potential buyers.
Written by urgent.news from The Atlantic's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
