404 Media reported on 2026-08-26 that Amazon operates a facility called VGT3 where employees destructively scan books—including brand new and used copies—to obtain data for AI model training, cutting spines and processing thousands of volumes. The practice raises concerns about copyright infringement and the scale of data collection for artificial intelligence development.
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An interview with one of the Amazon employees at Amazon’s AI training facility VGT3.
"We also saw them cutting the spines off the books and everything" "All kinds of books. When we first started a lot of them were brand new. Some of them are used as well" We spoke to one of the Amazon employees at the book destroying, AI training Amazon warehouse https://www. 404media.co/inside-the-warehou se-where-amazon-scans-and-destroys-books-for-ai-training/
Inside The Warehouse Where Amazon Scans and Destroys Books for AI Training L: https://www. 404media.co/inside-the-warehou se-where-amazon-scans-and-destroys-books-for-ai-training/ C: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9449917 posted on 2026.08.26 at 10:30:56 (c=0, p=4)
Inside the Warehouse Where # Amazon Scans and Destroys # Books for # AI Training 404Media discovered VGT3 was used to destructively scan books for # AItraining data by placing a tracking device in a shipment of rare books that a bookseller suspected was being acquired by an anonymous AI company. Online, Amazon employees who worked at VGT3 described the work of receiving shipments of books, cutting