AI labs shred millions of books to train models
AI companies, including Anthropic, are purchasing large quantities of physical books—especially titles published before 2022—to create training datasets for artificial‑intelligence models. The books are stripped of their spines, scanned at high speed, and the paper originals are shredded or recycled. Anthropic’s internal project, dubbed “Project Panama,” reportedly spent tens of millions of dollars on acquiring and processing the volumes.
A U.S. federal court ruled that scanning legally bought books for AI training falls under fair‑use, but the same decision held that the use of illegally copied books from shadow libraries is not protected, leading to a $1.5 billion settlement. In Australia, booksellers have seen a surge in sales of rare and out‑of‑print works as AI labs buy them, but they warn that the subsequent shredding threatens the survival of unique copies.
The practice has sparked criticism from cultural and preservation groups, who argue that the industrial‑scale destruction of rare books could erase irreplaceable knowledge.
Entities
AI Labs · Anthropic · Australian booksellers · Project Panama · U.S. federal court
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The same judge found that use of illegally copied books from shadow libraries is not protected, leading to a $1.5 billion settlement. www.upday.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Anthropic ran an internal initiative called “Project Panama” to acquire and scan books. www.upday.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The targeted books are primarily published before 2022 to avoid AI‑generated content. www.upday.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Anthropic spent tens of millions of dollars on the book‑acquisition and scanning operation. www.upday.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] The books are cut, scanned, and the originals are shredded or recycled. newswithviews.com · www.upday.com · freerepublic.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] AI companies are buying large numbers of physical books for AI training. newswithviews.com · www.upday.com · freerepublic.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A U.S. federal judge ruled that scanning legally purchased books for AI training is fair use. www.upday.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Australian booksellers reported a surge in sales of rare books due to AI labs' purchases but warned about shredding. freerepublic.com