In a revelation that has alarmed booksellers and collectors, Anthropic, an AI technology company, purchased millions of printed books in bulk, scanned their contents, and then destroyed the originals as part of a project to expand its digital library. The practice, dubbed AI "book shredding", was uncovered in a 2025 court document detailing Anthropic’s Project Panama, an initiative aimed at collecting and permanently retaining all books in the world.
The document states that Anthropic hired Tom Turvey, former head of partnerships for Google’s book-scanning project, to acquire material for the project. Turvey’s team contacted major book distributors and retailers via email to negotiate bulk purchases of print copies for Anthropic’s "research library." After scanning, the company shredded and discarded the physical books, raising ethical and legal concerns about the destruction of literary works.
The practice has drawn criticism from independent booksellers, who describe the process as destructive scanning—a method where books are sliced from their spines, fed through industrial scanners, and then discarded. Lucy Hingston, a second-hand book seller in Devon, England, expressed distress after discovering that books from her store, Compass Books, had been purchased in bulk by what appeared to be a shipping company based near Heathrow Airport. "They're my books, my babies," Hingston said. "I feel like we've been eaten by the AI monster."
Charlie Becker, whose family has operated a used and rare bookstore in Houston for over 30 years, recalled his father’s efforts to rescue books bound for landfills decades ago. "Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the industry," Becker said. "But this is something new. There’s no easy way to make it stop."
Anthropic’s project has sparked broader debates about copyright infringement, the preservation of rare and historical texts, and the ethical implications of AI companies consuming vast quantities of published material without clear compensation to authors or publishers. Critics argue that the practice could lead to the destruction of last remaining editions of some historical tomes, while supporters contend that the scanning process helps preserve knowledge in a digital format.
The company has not publicly commented on the specifics of Project Panama, though the court document confirms the acquisition and destruction of the books. The revelation comes amid growing scrutiny of AI companies’ data collection methods, with concerns mounting over the unregulated use of copyrighted material to train large language models.
Booksellers and collectors have called for greater transparency and regulation, emphasizing that the practice undermines the traditional book trade and risks erasing physical copies of works that may not exist in digital form elsewhere. Some industry observers have compared the trend to modern-day book burning, though the destruction in this case is framed as a byproduct of AI development rather than an act of censorship.
The issue has also highlighted the evolving role of second-hand bookshops, which have long served as repositories for out-of-print and rare volumes. Many sellers now report receiving unsolicited bulk purchase inquiries from entities they suspect are acting on behalf of AI firms, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the industry.
As the debate intensifies, calls for legislative action to protect literary works from unauthorized destruction have grown louder. Advocates for authors and publishers argue that existing copyright laws may not adequately address the unique challenges posed by AI-driven book scanning, leaving gaps that companies like Anthropic are exploiting.
For now, the practice continues, with booksellers and collectors left to grapple with the consequences of a rapidly changing landscape—one where the written word is increasingly seen as raw material for technological advancement.