Anthropic Destroyed Millions of Print Books to Build Its AI Models (arstechnica.com)

submitted 1 day ago by ThefuzzyFurryComrade@pawb.social to c/fuck_ai@lemmy.world

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[-] pixxelkick@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago

To be honest, I dont really blame Anthropic for this.

The prior ruling against The Internet Archive that made it so they couldnt archive digital copies of books effectively has made it so companies like Anthropic must do it this way.

So I blame the shitty courts for the very stupid ruling.

[-] ShoeThrower@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

Things can be immoral without being illegal.

They chose to destroy these books, because it would have been more expensive to non-destructively scan them.

They also chose to simply trash the loose pages after they were done with them.

[-] besselj@lemmy.ca 22 points 1 day ago

C'mon bubble, pop already

[-] MudMan@fedia.io 7 points 1 day ago

So they bought one copy of millions of different books and cut them off in the process of scanning them?

I mean... ok?

It would have been nicer to not cut them off and donate them after, but I wonder if in US copyright that would have made them less likely to get a pass. Here's hoping they recycled the paper, at least.

[-] ShoeThrower@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

Despite what publishers would like you to think, it's not illegal to sell or donate used books.

[-] jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

however in doing so they would no longer be making a backup copy and instead just making an actual copy.

[-] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

The content is 403 for me. I imagine these are copies, and not rares or one of a kinds.

[-] ShoeThrower@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Even if every book had copies readily available, trashing millions of books is immensely wasteful.

People decry mass book burnings, but when tech bros do the same shit, they don't even blink.

[-] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

I didn't say it was a good thing

[-] hedgehog@ttrpg.network 2 points 1 day ago

From the article:

The court documents don't indicate that any rare books were destroyed in this process—Anthropic purchased its books in bulk from major retailers

[-] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You would hope so, but I am not so sure.
Edit: here’s a snapshot for you: https://archive.is/pBkPr

this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2025

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