AirTag in rare book tracks Amazon's destructive AI training scanning operation

A hidden AirTag has provided concrete proof that Amazon is buying rare books in bulk and destroying them to train its AI models. According to a report from 404 Media, a bookseller planted an AirTag in a rare book that was part of a bulk order, then tracked it to an Amazon AI training facility in Las Vegas. The facility, designated VGT3, houses a team that tears books from their spines and scans pages for training data.

Key details from the investigation

• Location: The AirTag was traced to VGT3, an Amazon AI training site in Las Vegas.
• Operation: Workers were observed tearing books from their spines and scanning pages.
• Tone-deaf logo: A logo on the facility's door shows a Tyrannosaurus rex preparing to devour a book.
• ISBN scanning: Workers were trained to scan barcodes or ISBNs before scanning each book, supporting the theory that AI firms are methodically working through the ISBN registry to scan every printed book.
• Supply shortages: Workers said that earlier in the year, Amazon ran low on books to scan—at one point supply completely ran out—raising fears the facility might shut down.

Amazon's response

Amazon declined to comment on the findings, issuing a statement that does not mention AI training:

"Amazon purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use."

The company is developing frontier AI models that require massive amounts of unique training data to compete with Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Rivals like Anthropic and xAI have publicly said they are not training on rare or antique books, making it a differentiator.

Why rare books?

The books targeted are often older works with lower monetary value—untranslated foreign-language books or titles that never gained wide distribution. Despite this, they hold historical, intellectual, and sentimental value that the AI firms may overlook. The bookseller who planted the AirTag emphasized this ethical dilemma for sellers.

The investigation also highlighted that booksellers have suspected AI firms are buying books solely by checking off ISBNs, without assessing value. This raises questions about the environmental and cultural cost of training models at any cost.