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Project Panama: Destructive Scanning of Books for AI

Latest Tanzania technology news · Project Panama explained · updated Aug 17, 2026 · tech news · innovation · digital

TLDR

  • Independent booksellers have reported a surge in bulk orders of secondhand books, with some orders equaling a week's worth of sales in a single transaction.
  • A notable case involved a Canadian company making a large purchase, raising suspicions that the books are intended for AI training rather than for readers.
  • In 2025, a US court ruled that using purchased books to train AI software does not violate copyright law, following a lawsuit against AI firm Anthropic.
  • The ruling stated that the use of authors' books by Anthropic was 'exceedingly transformative' and thus permissible under US law.
  • Recent court documents revealed that books are being destroyed during the training of Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude, which has raised concerns among booksellers.

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