Anthropic faces backlash over Project Panama, a plan to scan all the world’s books

BrianRoemmele · x · 2026-07-28

Anthropic is being criticized over an internal 2024 effort, codenamed Project Panama, that aimed to "destructively scan all the books in the world." The post contrasts that approach with Andrew Carnegie’s library philanthropy, arguing that Carnegie built public knowledge while Anthropic is building a private shredder.

The quoted planning document reportedly said the company did not want the effort to become public, which is presented as the core reason for the backlash.

Related event: AI Book Scanning and Destruction Sparks Copyright and Preservation Backlash(17 posts)→

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