Amazon Caught Destroying Rare Books to Train AI After Hidden AirTag Exposes Vegas Facility
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Hidden Airtag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI
For the past year or so, booksellers have suspected that AI firms are buying up huge lots of rare books, then destroying them after scanning them to train AI. But this was hard to prove until now, as 404 Media reports that an Airtag hidden in a rare book shows that at least one tech giant, in the
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Amazon, once an online bookseller, is destroying rare books to train AI models
Amazon is buying tons of rare books, cutting off their spines, and scanning them for AI training, according to 404 Media, which placed a tracking device in a rare book that ultimately arrived at an Amazon facility in Las Vegas. The facility, known as VGT3, identifies itself with a symbol of a
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Here's a balm if the idea of destroying books to train AI breaks your heart
If you can truly appreciate an old book -- and maybe even marvel at how its fragile, yellowing pages contain some of the earliest ways that people tried to make sense of the world around them -- then headlines about tech companies destroying books to train AI likely torture a tender part of your
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Secret tracking device placed in rare book ends up in Amazon processing facility -- destroying books to train AI models is 'all' the Vegas warehouse does
AI companies are reportedly buying up millions of books, some of which are rare, and using them to train AI models, often destroying the book in the process. We now have more specifics about how this process works, however, thanks to an investigation from 404 Media. The outlet placed a tracking
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Independent bookstores in Europe receive suspicious orders for thousands of books, prompting fears they'll be destroyed to train AI -- sellers believe acquisitions are part of AI tech companies' push to get more data
Some fear that these books will be scanned and destroyed by machines, with no human ever setting their eyes on their content. One independent book retailer in Galway, Ireland, received an online order for 5,000 books, which would be elating for many shop owners, especially at a time when people
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Secondhand book sales are booming. Is it because of AI?
Something mysterious has been happening in the world of secondhand books. Over the last few months independent booksellers have been observing a strange pattern of purchases which have seen scores of their novels being shipped to far-off warehouses. In a typical week, Stuart Manley, from Barter
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How an AirTag planted by a reporter led to a secret Amazon site where old books are cut apart and scanned
Amazon is reportedly cutting the spines off old books and scanning the pages at a Las Vegas facility, presumably to train AI models on text that exists almost nowhere else. The company won't confirm that's the reason. It gave us the same statement it provided to 404 Media, which broke the story:
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Used Booksellers Are Racking Up Huge Sales. They're Not Thrilled About the Likely Reason
Another bookseller, David Tobin, who runs north London's Walden Books -- not to be mistaken for Waldenbooks -- said he was also in the midst of a business boom. "In some ways it's very nice to sell some of these titles which haven't been sold for many years," he told the BBC. But he added "it would
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Hidden AirTag appears to confirm suspicions about illicit AI book scanning
Suspicious bulk orders of used books have led many booksellers to believe they are being purchased on behalf of AI companies so that they can be scanned and used as training material without author consent or payment. An AirTag hidden inside a rare book sold as part of a bulk order appears to
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We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process. A 404 Media
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Secondhand booksellers in UK and Ireland suspect AI firms behind 'strange' bulk orders
Development comes after Anthropic was found to have spent millions on books to scan for 'data acquisition' Secondhand booksellers in the UK and Ireland are reporting a flurry of bulk orders from mystery buyers, amid speculation AI companies are acquiring the tomes for their data. Bookshops
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AppleInsider.com
An AirTag hidden in a rare book followed its journey to a Las Vegas warehouse, where it was likely destroyed in an effort to supply fresh data to hungry LLMs. I don't know if you've noticed, but everything is becoming increasingly AI-generated. Whether it's news, music, or social media, AI has
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Amazon Caught Destroying Rare Books to Train AI
Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Amazon has been caught scanning and destroying a large shipment of rare books so it can train its AI models. In an investigation by 404 Media, a bookseller suspected that an order they received for 1,000 books on Biblio, a
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AI companies may be gobbling up old books, and I really hope they aren't destroying them
Booksellers are seeing mysterious bulk orders for old books, and some suspect AI companies Secondhand booksellers have noticed a curious pattern over the past few months. Large orders are coming in for old books that often share no obvious subject, author, or genre, leaving sellers wondering who
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Rare Books Traced to Amazon AI Training Facility to Be Scanned and Destroyed
Amazon confirmed it "purchases books through commercial channels" and said the operation hadn't been reported before. AI companies are scanning truckloads of books, sometimes rare ones, and often destroying them in the process to train their models -- and now we have some idea of which companies
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AI companies are buying used books by the thousands. Some may be destroyed for training
Bulk orders are giving used bookstores a surprising sales boost as AI companies seek legally acquired books to scan for model training. Not too many years ago, before the dawn of Kindles, used bookstores were a refuge for budget-minded, voracious readers. As the industry evolved, many suffered.
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Amazon Caught Destroying 1,000 Rare Books to Feed Its AI Models
If you've ever sold an old or rare book online, there's a chance it didn't end up on someone's shelf. It may have ended up in a Las Vegas warehouse. There, its spine gets sliced off and its pages get fed through a scanner so Amazon can train its AI. That's what a new investigation from 404 Media
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Amazon Is Buying Up Older Books and Destroying Them After Scanning. The Orders Go Back to 2024
Amazon is buying physical books, cutting off their bindings, scanning the pages for AI training, and destroying the originals, according to a new investigation that traced a roughly 1,000-book order to one of the company's Las Vegas warehouses. 404 Media worked with a bookseller who received the
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Report: Amazon Is Buying Rare Books in Bulk and Destroying Them to Train AI -- A Hidden AirTag Proved It
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. A rare bookseller suspected AI companies were quietly buying up rare books to train their models, then destroying them. To find out for sure, they planted an AirTag inside a shipment and tracked where it went. It led to a warehouse in
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Amazon's massacre of rare books is a betrayal of the brand's origins
Fahrenheit 451 isn't a great look for the "Earth's biggest bookstore". Today, Amazon is one of the world's biggest tech companies, with vast cloud computing and AI operations as well as its mammoth global online retail platforms. But its brand still has a close connection with where it all began
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List of AI companies turning to old and rare books for AI training - MEDIANAMA
Amazon is buying old, obscure and rare books and sending them for destructive scanning at a facility used for AI-related work, according to an investigation by 404 Media. Booksellers and preservationists have raised concerns that destroying these physical copies could make certain books
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Amazon joins other tech giants in gobbling up books to train AI, report finds
Amazon is reportedly buying massive quantities of rare books, scanning their pages to train its AI models and destroying the tomes in the process -- joining Anthropic, Meta and other tech giants in operating massive book scan-and-destroy operations. The goal, according to a report by news site 404
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An investigation using a hidden AirTag has exposed Amazon's systematic destruction of rare books at its Las Vegas VGT3 facility. The tech giant is buying bulk orders of rare books, cutting their spines, and scanning them to train AI models, raising ethical concerns among book lovers and independent bookstores worldwide.
Amazon's Book Destruction Operation Exposed Through Hidden Tracking Device
An investigative report by
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has confirmed what booksellers suspected for over a year: AI companies are destroying rare books to train AI models. The investigation placed an Apple AirTag inside a rare book that was part of a 1,000-book bulk order, tracking it directly to Amazon's VGT3 facility in Las Vegas. The warehouse, which operates within the larger LAS8 facility, exists solely to process books for AI training data. Employees told2
that their entire job involves cutting spines off books and feeding pages into industrial scanners. The facility's logo—a Tyrannosaurus rex clutching a book in its claws—leaves little doubt about the fate of these literary works. "All we do is scan books," one employee4
.
Source: 9to5Mac
Amazon's Insatiable AI Data Hunger Drives Systematic Book Acquisition
Amazon declined to specifically address the AI training allegations, providing only a vague statement: "Amazon purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use." However, the company is developing frontier AI models that require massive amounts of unique training data to compete with Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The need is so urgent that VGT3 workers reported in online forums that Amazon nearly ran out of books to scan earlier this year, raising fears the warehouse might shut down. The supply shortage was temporarily resolved, but the facility's continued operation depends on a steady stream of rare books. Scanning books for AI training offers Amazon a crucial advantage: these texts predate 2022, ensuring they weren't AI-generated. When large language models train on AI-generated text, they risk model collapse, where output quality degrades significantly.
AI Tech Companies Push for More Data Through Bulk ISBN Orders
The investigation revealed that AI companies are systematically working through lists of ISBNs to ensure comprehensive coverage of published works. VGT3 employees are trained to scan barcodes or ISBNs before processing each book, giving credence to booksellers' theory that "AI companies are trying to methodically scan every printed book in the world by working through the list of ISBNs,"
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reported. Independent bookstores across Europe have received suspicious bulk orders for thousands of books containing seemingly random titles. Tomás Kenny of Kennys Bookshop in Galway, Ireland, received an order for 5,000 books that included eclectic selections like "A History of Connemara" alongside "The Eddie Hobbs Guide to your SSIA." Berlin bookshops reported similar orders containing outdated titles like "Pass Your Driving Test, 2018 Edition." Booksellers noted these orders "never" include rare books lacking ISBNs, suggesting automated systems are driving the5
.
Source: Gizmodo
Destructive Scanning Methods Contrast With Preservation Alternatives
The AI companies destroying physical books employ destructive scanning methods that stand in stark contrast to established preservation techniques. Amazon's VGT3 facility cuts book spines before feeding pages flat into industrial scanners—the cheapest and fastest method available. Yet alternatives exist. Google Books patented non-destructive book-scanning technology in 2009 using V-shaped scanners that lay books open naturally without disturbing bindings. The Internet Archive has refined careful, manual scanning processes since 2010. Scanner Eliza Zhang has digitized more than 3 million pages, 14,000 foldouts, and 18,000 items by turning pages with "clean, dry human hands"—considered the best method for brittle, fragile books. The Archive's approach prioritizes "zero errors" and ensures each rare book only undergoes scanning once. Chris Freeland, director of library services, confirmed this remains their standard
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. However, AI firms racing to advance frontier models appear unwilling to invest in slower, more expensive non-destructive techniques.
Source: Fast Company
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Copyright Infringement and Ethical Concerns Mount Across the Industry
The practice of Amazon is trashing rare books has intensified ethical concerns and legal battles. Anthropic faced a $1.5 billion settlement in 2025 for maintaining 7 million pirated books in its library. Internal documents from "Project Panama" stated plainly: "Project Panama is our effort to destructively scan all the books in the world." Meta was revealed to have torrented 82TB of pirated books for AI training. While U.S. courts have ruled that using books to train AI constitutes fair use, the penalties focused on copyright infringement from pirated copies. Germany takes a stricter stance. "Under German law scanning books - regardless of the purpose - would not be permissible and constitute a clear violation of copyright law," said Thomas Koch, spokesperson of Germany's Publishers and Booksellers' Association. European bookstores suspect bulk orders are shipped to local addresses as collection points before eventual transport to the U.S. for processing.
Literary Heritage Versus AI Progress Creates Moral Dilemma
The bookseller who planted the AirTag told
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that rare books possess "historical value, intellectual value, sentimental value" derived from "all sorts of things" that "the AI companies don't care about. They just want the content as a bunch of words strung together." AI firms often target older books with lower monetary value—foreign language works never translated or titles never widely distributed. While these may not be prized first editions, they represent irreplaceable cultural artifacts. Michael Burry reportedly labeled the practice "evil incarnate." Yet some Reddit users questioned whether destruction matters for books gathering dust on shelves for decades. For independent bookstores, bulk orders offer financial lifelines during the transition to digital reading, creating a painful ethical dilemma. The orders help stores survive, but contributing to the systematic destruction of literary heritage troubles many sellers. As AI training data demands continue escalating, the tension between preserving physical books and feeding AI's insatiable appetite for text shows no signs of resolution.References
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