TECH Signal 215
Wellington second-hand bookstore cancels bulk orders reportedly destined for AI model training
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A Wellington second-hand bookstore owner cancelled large international orders for niche local texts after discovering similar bulk purchases globally were reportedly being used to train AI models by destructively scanning books.
This highlights a hidden physical supply chain for AI training data where out-of-print books are bought in bulk, scanned, and destroyed. For engineers, it underscores the lengths to which AI labs are going to acquire unique text for model training, often via third-party buyers.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
Book Haven in Wellington received bulk orders from a Canadian buyer for niche New Zealand non-fiction books from the 1970s and 1980s.
The bookstore owner discovered a global pattern of bulk book purchases destined for a US warehouse, reportedly for AI companies to train large language models.
The owner cancelled the orders, citing the destructive scanning of books referenced in an Anthropic court case as anathema to booksellers.
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