Hidden AirTag Reveals Amazon Destroys Rare Books After Scanning for AI Training
An investigative tracking effort using a hidden AirTag has revealed that Amazon is destroying rare books after scanning them to train its AI models. The Amazon team responsible for this project reportedly uses a logo depicting a T. rex preparing to devour a book. This discovery highlights the controversial and aggressive methods tech giants use to acquire AI training data, raising significant ethical and environmental concerns. It underscores the tension between preserving cultural heritage and the race to build advanced AI models. The investigation tracked the physical path of the books using an AirTag, confirming they were discarded rather than preserved or returned after digitization. The internal Amazon team responsible for this operation uses a T. rex devouring a book as their official logo.
## BACKGROUND
AI developers require massive datasets, including text from books, to train large language models. While digitizing books is a common practice, the destruction of physical copies, especially rare or out-of-print works, is highly controversial due to copyright, cultural preservation, and ethical issues.