# AirTag trail links an Amazon Las Vegas facility to destructive book scanning for AI > Source: > Published: 2026-08-17 20:43:12.151439+00:00 # AirTag trail links an Amazon Las Vegas facility to destructive book scanning for AI - 404 Media says it tracked an AirTag hidden in a book from a large used-book order to an Amazon facility in Las Vegas. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) - Workers cited by 404 Media described a process in which bindings are removed so pages can be scanned quickly, destroying the physical copies. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) - Amazon said it buys books through commercial channels to develop and improve customer products and services, but did not disclose which models, products or contractors use the scans. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) - ISBNdb, Zoom Books and logistics company PrepFort appear in the broader acquisition trail, but public evidence does not establish that any one of them supplied the tracked shipment. [[2]](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/ai-companies-buying-used-books-for-data/688167/) An Apple AirTag hidden inside a book from a large used-book order led 404 Media to an Amazon facility in Las Vegas that employees described as a site for scanning printed books into AI training data. The reported process involves cutting off book bindings, feeding loose pages through scanners and discarding the physical copies. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) The investigation provides a reported trail from one commercial book shipment to an Amazon building, but it does not establish that the books were rare in the collectible sense, identify the models trained on them or show that Amazon is destroying millions of unique cultural artifacts. Independent reporting has documented a wider surge in unusual bulk orders for old and specialized books, while also finding that several suspected intermediaries deny involvement in scanning or AI data supply. [[2]](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/ai-companies-buying-used-books-for-data/688167/)[[3]](https://fortune.com/2026/07/31/dutch-bookseller-ai-spam-phishing-3000-book-copies-scan-destroy/) ## What the tracking evidence shows 404 Media reported that it placed a tracking device inside a book from an unusually large order and followed the shipment across the United States. The device ultimately reached an Amazon facility in Las Vegas. The publication did not identify the bookseller publicly. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) 404 Media identified an Amazon operation called VGT3 at the site. Employees told the publication that the operation receives large quantities of printed books and removes their bindings before scanning the pages. That account is the basis for the report’s description of destructive scanning; the article did not publish Amazon records documenting the workflow. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) Amazon told 404 Media that it “purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use.” The company did not publicly say whether the tracked books were acquired for a particular foundation model, internal system or customer-facing service. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) The AirTag provides evidence about the destination of one shipment, rather than a complete map of Amazon’s book-acquisition program. It also cannot by itself show what happened to the book after arrival. The reported scanning and destruction process rests on employee accounts and the publication’s reporting. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) ## The suppliers remain difficult to identify 404 Media’s earlier reporting identified ISBNdb as a company that advertised bulk printed-book acquisition for AI developers, including orders of up to 1 million titles. After the coverage, ISBNdb removed the pages and told The Atlantic that it had never purchased, scanned or destroyed books and that the offering was only an unlaunched test of market demand. [[2]](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/ai-companies-buying-used-books-for-data/688167/) Another possible link is Zoom Books, a Canadian company that says it acquires, sorts and resells more than 2 million books a month. Booksellers in several countries reported unusual orders connected to Zoom, while the company said it had no involvement in digitization, scanning or destruction of books, to its knowledge. Some sellers also reported shipping addresses associated with PrepFort, a third-party logistics company that prepares items for sale on Amazon and Walmart. PrepFort co-founder Sufyaan Kalota declined to discuss customer agreements because of confidentiality obligations. None of those facts proves that the companies handled the tracked shipment. [[2]](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/ai-companies-buying-used-books-for-data/688167/) A separate procurement request sent to Dutch booksellers by Singapore-based 2077AI listed 3,001 mostly academic titles. Fortune reported that the request did not explain its intended use, and 2077AI did not respond to questions about whether the books were for AI training. [[3]](https://fortune.com/2026/07/31/dutch-bookseller-ai-spam-phishing-3000-book-copies-scan-destroy/) No external scanning contractor has been publicly identified for Amazon’s Las Vegas operation. Datamation Information Services has been tied through court records and reporting to Anthropic’s destructive scanning of books, but there is no public evidence that Datamation performed the Amazon work. [[4]](https://p4sc4l.substack.com/p/claude-anthropic-engaged-datamation) ## The legal permission is narrower than the cultural dispute The strongest U.S. legal precedent comes from a different company. In a June 23, 2025 order, a federal judge ruled that Anthropic’s use of lawfully purchased books to create digital copies for AI training was fair use. The same ruling treated Anthropic’s acquisition of pirated books from online shadow libraries as a separate problem. [[5]](https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3%3A2024cv05417/434709/231/0.pdf) That decision does not establish that every book-scanning program is lawful, and it does not resolve questions about contracts, provenance, privacy, export or the treatment of rare physical objects. It also does not determine whether Amazon’s activity is covered by the same facts or legal reasoning. [[5]](https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3%3A2024cv05417/434709/231/0.pdf) Library preservation practice points in the opposite operational direction for fragile or high-value materials. The Library of Congress says form-feed scanning is not acceptable for fragile, high-value, fine-art or archival collections and recommends cradles and careful handling for vulnerable bindings. Its guidance allows contractors to digitize collections, but says preservation staff should review and approve equipment with the condition of the material in mind. [[6]](https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/scan.html) The evidence supports a narrower conclusion than the headline circulating online: Amazon says it buys books commercially, and 404 Media reported employee accounts of a destructive scanning workflow at an Amazon facility in Las Vegas. The size of the program, the identity of its acquisition partners, the number of books processed and the number of genuinely rare books involved remain unconfirmed. [[1]](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/)[[2]](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/ai-companies-buying-used-books-for-data/688167/) ## Companies mentioned ## Further sources [[1] 404 Media’s August 17, 2026 investigation reports the tracking experiment, the … ↗](https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility/) [[2] The Atlantic’s August 5, 2026 report examines unusual used-book orders, ISBNdb’… ↗](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/ai-companies-buying-used-books-for-data/688167/) [[3] Fortune’s July 31, 2026 report documents the 2077AI request for 3,001 academic … ↗](https://fortune.com/2026/07/31/dutch-bookseller-ai-spam-phishing-3000-book-copies-scan-destroy/) [[4] Document-based analysis identifies Datamation as a scanning contractor linked t… ↗](https://p4sc4l.substack.com/p/claude-anthropic-engaged-datamation) [[5] The June 23, 2025 federal order in Bartz v. Anthropic addresses fair use for la… ↗](https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3%3A2024cv05417/434709/231/0.pdf) [[6] Library of Congress preservation guidance says form-feed equipment is unaccepta… ↗](https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/scan.html) The stories that matter, in one email. Free — unsubscribe anytime.