An Airtag hidden in a rare book tracked to an Amazon AI training facility in Las Vegas has confirmed suspicions that tech giants are destroying books to train AI models. Amazon has declined to comment specifically on AI training.
This confirmation reveals a potentially destructive method used by a major tech company to acquire data for advanced AI development, raising significant ethical concerns among booksellers and the public regarding the preservation of historical and intellectual content.
Amazon has been confirmed to be purchasing large quantities of rare books, destroying them after scanning their pages to train its artificial intelligence models. This practice, long suspected by booksellers, was revealed through an Airtag planted in a rare book that was tracked to an Amazon AI training facility in Las Vegas.
The facility, identified as VGT3, reportedly features a logo of a Tyrannosaurus rex devouring a book, a detail noted by 404 Media, which first reported the findings. Workers at the facility suggested that Amazon had experienced a shortage of books to scan earlier in the year, raising concerns about the facility's continued operation.
Amazon has declined to comment specifically on AI training, issuing a general statement that it purchases books to "develop and improve the products and services our customers use." However, the company is known to be developing advanced AI models that require vast amounts of unique training data.
Further investigation by 404 Media indicated that Amazon workers were trained to scan barcodes or ISBNs before scanning books. This practice lends credence to booksellers' theories that AI firms are systematically targeting books with ISBNs to ensure comprehensive scanning of printed works globally.
The practice has drawn criticism from book lovers and some booksellers, with Michael Burry reportedly calling it "evil incarnate." While some Redditors debated the value of old, unread books, others expressed concern that AI firms would hoard the knowledge contained within these texts, potentially releasing only "warped, censored, and paywalled fragments of ideas." Booksellers also face an ethical dilemma, balancing potential profits from bulk sales against the risk of rare works being destroyed.