Amazon is buying rare books and destroying them to train its AI models
A 404 Media investigation tracked a rare book to an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas where workers cut spines off books to scan them
A bookseller suspected an anonymous order of around 1,000 titles was being used for AI training. Working with 404 Media, the seller placed an Apple AirTag in one book and shipped it through Biblio. The tracker traveled through California, Wisconsin, Colorado, and ended up in an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas. Amazon has not denied these details, stating they buy books to improve their products and services.
Workers at the warehouse described their job as scanning books. The warehouse primarily processes print-on-demand books, which is what made the destination confusing. However, workers said they scan the barcode first. This pattern of orders has been observed before, with large orders of University Press titles being shipped to the same location.
Rare book sellers in the UK and Ireland are refusing AI-related orders due to concerns over the destruction of rare books.
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- Amazon joins the list of companies destroying rare books to feed to the AI machine appleinsider.com
- Secret tracker in rare book ends up at Amazon warehouse linked to AI book processing timesofindia.indiatimes.com
