20/08/2026
This is so sad.
Secondhand bookstores are reporting a surge in bulk orders, fueling suspicion that tech companies are buying up physical books to scan and destroy to train their AI models.
Independent booksellers across the UK and Ireland are witnessing an unprecedented phenomenon: a massive wave of random bulk orders from anonymous buyers.
Proprietors of historic shops, such as Barter Books in Northumberland and Kenneth's Bookshop in Galway, report receiving single-day orders for thousands of books spanning completely unrelated topics—from decades-old driving manuals to obscure translated novels.
Unlike typical libraries that curate specific collections and request discounts, these mystery buyers purchase eclectic selections at full retail price. The sheer randomness of these orders has led shop owners to believe that automated bots are tracking down physical ISBNs to capture titles missing from digital libraries.
The sudden demand has fueled speculation that artificial intelligence companies are aggressively buying physical books to train their models. As AI developers face intense legal pressure and massive copyright lawsuits over digital piracy, purchasing secondhand books offers a cheaper, legal avenue to secure 'human-grade' data. Industry experts suspect these books are being shipped to logistics hubs, scanned, and subsequently destroyed or pulped to feed hungry large language models. While these bulk sales offer an unexpected financial lifeline to struggling independent shops, they raise troubling ethical questions about the digital harvesting and destruction of physical literature.
source: Milmo, D. (2026, August 15). Secondhand booksellers in UK and Ireland suspect AI firms behind 'strange' bulk orders. The Guardian.
