# AI companies accused of destructive book scanning > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/ai-companies-accused-of-destructive-book-scanning > Updated: 2026-08-31T07:40:56.000Z. Sources: 83. Developments: 7. Concerns have emerged regarding the practice of ‘destructive scanning’ used to acquire training data for artificial intelligence. Initially, Australian booksellers and rare-book experts reported that the Canadian company Zoom Books was making large, irregular orders for niche, decades-old titles, expressing concern that these books were being destroyed after digitization. Scrutiny has since expanded to the AI developer Anthropic. Court documents regarding an internal initiative called ‘Project Panama’ suggest the company has been acquiring millions of secondhand and out-of-print books to facilitate digital data collection. Reports indicate that Anthropic uses a ‘scan-and-destroy’ method to train its Claude AI, where book spines are slit and pages are trimmed to meet scanning formats, rendering them unusable. An internal memo allegedly describes the objective as ‘destructively scanning all the books in the world.’ While Anthropic has stated that rare books are not the target, legal documents reveal the company previously reached a $1.5 billion settlement regarding the use of pirated books. Investigations have also extended to Amazon. Reports from 404 Media revealed that an Amazon facility in Las Vegas, known as VGT3, is used to scan and subsequently destroy books. Testimony from an anonymous employee indicates the process involves mechanically cutting spines off new, used, and library copies—including materials in German, Russian, and Japanese—to feed pages into high-speed scanners. Once digitized, the pages are discarded as loose paper, making reconstruction impossible. This method is used to acquire high-quality text published before 2022 to avoid ‘model collapse.’ In response to these revelations, a coalition of American civil rights groups has called for a federal investigation into AI companies. ## Claims - The process involves cutting the spines off books to speed up digitization, which destroys the original copies. (disputed by 22 sources) - Anthropic claims that no rare books are destroyed through this method. (disputed) - An investigation by 404 Media tracked a shipment of rare books to an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas using an AirTag. (corroborated by 23 sources) - Amazon stated it purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve its products and services. (corroborated by 19 sources) - The VGT3 unit in Las Vegas uses a logo featuring a T-Rex clutching a book. (corroborated by 13 sources) - The company focuses on books printed before 2022 to avoid AI-generated content in its training datasets. (corroborated by 12 sources) - The AI company Anthropic is systematically scanning and destroying books to train its large language model, Claude. (corroborated by 6 sources) - An internal Anthropic memo reportedly uses a codename for the mission to 'destructively scan all the books in the world'. (corroborated by 6 sources) - The company aims to train its Claude model using high-quality prose without paying authors for the privilege. (corroborated by 6 sources) - Anthropic developed Project Panama to train its Claude AI tool. (corroborated by 4 sources) ## Timeline ### 2026-08-31: Artificial intelligence faces rising safety and ethical concerns Artificial intelligence faces growing scrutiny over safety, ethics, and human impact, ranging from cybersecurity risks and autonomous misconduct to the potential for humans to adopt machine-like communication. 20 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/anthropic-reportedly-destroys-physical-books-to-train-claude-ai ### 2026-08-26: Amazon scans and destroys books for AI training in Las Vegas An Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas is reportedly scanning and destroying books, including rare and library copies, to collect data for training artificial intelligence systems. 3 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/amazon-scans-and-destroys-books-for-ai-training-in-las-vegas ### 2026-08-25: Anthropic faces scrutiny over ‘Project Panama’ book destruction A coalition of US civil rights groups is calling for an FTC investigation into AI company Anthropic’s ‘Project Panama’, which involves the destructive scanning and disposal of physical books to train AI models. 10 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/anthropic-uses-destructive-scanning-for-ai-training ### 2026-08-23: AI companies accused of buying and destroying books for training data AI companies are reportedly buying and destroying vast quantities of physical books, including rare editions, to scan them for training large language models. 8 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/amazon-facilities-linked-to-industry-wide-book-destruction-for-ai-training ### 2026-08-17: Amazon uses destructive scanning of rare books to train AI An investigation revealed Amazon is buying rare books and using destructive scanning at a Las Vegas facility to train its AI models, specifically targeting pre-2022 texts to ensure high-quality data. 33 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/amazon-destroys-rare-books-to-scan-and-train-ai-models ### 2026-08-13: Anthropic accused of destroying books for AI training AI firm Anthropic is accused of using ‘destructive scanning’ to train models, involving the mass purchase and physical destruction of secondhand books to facilitate rapid digitization. 10 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/anthropic-uses-project-panama-to-train-claude-ai-via-book-scanning ### 2026-08-01: Australian Booksellers Warn AI Over Zoom Books' Rare Book Purchases Australian booksellers warn that Canadian firm Zoom Books is buying and possibly destroying rare books to feed AI training data, sparking concerns over cultural loss. 3 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/australian-booksellers-warn-ai-over-zoom-books-rare-book-purchases --- Cite as: AI companies accused of destructive book scanning. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/ai-companies-accused-of-destructive-book-scanning