Amazon, once an online bookseller, is destroying rare books to train AI models

Amazon is reportedly buying rare books, removing their spines, and scanning them to train AI models, according to reporting cited by TechCrunch. The move highlights the escalating demand for high-quality, non-internet text sources as large language models exhaust readily available web data. The article frames this as a data-acquisition strategy intended to improve Amazon’s AI products and services, while also underscoring the value of out-of-print and pre-2022 material because it is less likely to contain AI-generated text. The news is more of an AI-industry and ethics commentary than a direct financial catalyst, but it reinforces Amazon’s continued investment in AI infrastructure and model training capabilities, which could support long-term sentiment around its cloud and AI ambitions.