Anthropic contractor allegedly scanned rare books and destroyed originals for training data

nikvassev · x · 2026-08-04

A post alleges that an Anthropic contractor bought entire library collections, scanned rare 16th-century books, and destroyed the originals to build training data. It claims some of the books were the last known physical copies and says a judge later called it fair use.

The core issue is the tension between AI training data collection and preservation of unique physical texts. The post frames the destruction of originals as irreversible loss rather than simple digitization.

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Anthropic contractor allegedly scanned rare books and destroyed originals for training data

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