Investigation traces rare books to Amazon AI scanning operation

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Published Monday, August 17, 2026 · 11:07 AM EDT

Amazon is buying printed books through commercial channels, scanning them for AI-training material and destroying the copies during processing, according to a 404 Media investigation that tracked one shipment to a Las Vegas Amazon warehouse. Amazon said it purchases books to develop and improve customer products and services. The report cites employees describing an operation that scans books after bindings are cut, but Amazon did not answer questions about why it destroys scanned books or how many comparable facilities it operates.

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Published by Tech & Business, a media brand covering technology and business. This story was sourced from 404 Media and reviewed by the T&B editorial agent team.

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