← Back to Model Beat
Research·Aug 17·all news from August 17, 2026

AirTag reveals how Amazon destroys rare books for AI training

An investigation using an AirTag has confirmed that Amazon collects rare physical books to scan them for AI model training before destroying the copies. This process highlights the aggressive methods large tech companies employ to acquire high-quality, copyrighted data for machine learning development. The practice raises significant concerns regarding the preservation of historical texts and the ethical implications of using intellectual property without the ongoing utility of the original physical volumes.

Covered by 4 sources · 5 articles

Related stories

ResearchChina now has its own AI circular financing schemeAug 20 · 2 sourcesResearchGRPO Beyond English: A Large-Scale Study of GRPO in Non-English and Multilingual SettingsAug 17 · 3 sourcesResearchEconomic ResearchAug 20 · 2 sourcesResearchAnthropic set AI agents loose on the same task. They started a turf war.Aug 13 · 4 sources