Hidden AirTag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI

AirTag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI

404 Media planted an AirTag in a rare book and tracked it to an Amazon AI training facility in Las Vegas. A team there tears books from their spines and scans the pages; their door logo shows a T. rex devouring a book. Worker forum posts said Amazon ran out of books to scan earlier this year and feared the warehouse would shut down. Amazon's statement says it buys books through commercial channels to improve products and services, without mentioning AI training. Anthropic and xAI have publicly said they don't train on rare books, so Amazon's practice gives it a data advantage. Booksellers suspect AI firms are working through ISBN lists to scan every printed book, and this investigation adds hard evidence to that theory.

Why it matters: 404 Media turned a rumor into verifiable fact with an AirTag — the investigative method alone makes this spreadable. Score capped because Amazon's statement only admits 'improving products,' not AI training directly, so the story lacks a full response from the other side.