AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop
404 Media · rss · 2026-07-21
AI companies are purchasing large quantities of pre-2022 printed books to avoid AI-generated content contamination and model collapse. ISBNdb offers bulk book acquisition services with strict NDAs. Since April, booksellers have reported historic sales spikes, suspected to be from AI firms. Anthropic's plan to scan and destroy millions of books has led to copyright lawsuits.
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