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We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility

AnnouncementModelAug 17, 2026

A 404 Media investigation confirmed that Amazon purchases large quantities of printed books, scans them for AI training data, and destroys them in the process. Using a tracking device placed in a book, 404 Media followed a shipment to an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas, where employees said they cut book bindings off to scan pages. Amazon stated it "purchases books through commercial channels" to develop its products and services.

Receipt № 14201 source · awaiting confirmation ◐

Evidence

1source· awaiting independent confirmation

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Citation chain · 1 source

AmazonCompany404 MediaCompany
Canonical: https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/