08-15-2026, 06:53 PM
Secondhand booksellers suspect AI firms
Summary
Secondhand booksellers across the UK and Ireland have reported a surge in unusual bulk purchases of obscure and unrelated titles, leading some to suspect that AI companies or their contractors are buying physical books to obtain new training data. The orders often come from overseas buyers using vague identities, are shipped to warehouses, and sometimes involve paying unusually high prices without negotiation; similar patterns have also appeared in the US and Australia.
Booksellers believe the books may be scanned to digitize material that is unavailable online and then potentially destroyed, raising concerns about the loss of rare physical copies and disruption of the secondhand-book market. The suspicions have been strengthened by reports that AI company Anthropic previously spent millions of dollars acquiring large quantities of books, cutting off their bindings and scanning them as part of a major data-acquisition effort for training its models. However, the Guardian notes that there is no definitive evidence identifying who is behind the current purchases, leaving booksellers puzzled about where the books ultimately go and how they are being used.
ARTICLE
Summary
Secondhand booksellers across the UK and Ireland have reported a surge in unusual bulk purchases of obscure and unrelated titles, leading some to suspect that AI companies or their contractors are buying physical books to obtain new training data. The orders often come from overseas buyers using vague identities, are shipped to warehouses, and sometimes involve paying unusually high prices without negotiation; similar patterns have also appeared in the US and Australia.
Booksellers believe the books may be scanned to digitize material that is unavailable online and then potentially destroyed, raising concerns about the loss of rare physical copies and disruption of the secondhand-book market. The suspicions have been strengthened by reports that AI company Anthropic previously spent millions of dollars acquiring large quantities of books, cutting off their bindings and scanning them as part of a major data-acquisition effort for training its models. However, the Guardian notes that there is no definitive evidence identifying who is behind the current purchases, leaving booksellers puzzled about where the books ultimately go and how they are being used.
ARTICLE
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│ KONSTANTINOS MICHAILIDIS │
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│ KONSTANTINOS MICHAILIDIS │
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