© 2026 All Rights reserved WUSF
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WUSF's Wake Up Call
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.
Subscribe

Why tech companies are buying up tons of rare old books to train their AI models

NPR | By Erika Ryan,
Juana Summers, Mallory Yu
Published August 19, 2026 at 5:13 PM EDT

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with 404 Media cofounder and reporter Emanuel Maiberg about his investigation into a shipment of rare books which ended up at an Amazon AI training warehouse.

Copyright 2026 NPR
Tags
All Things ConsideredUS / World
Erika Ryan
Erika Ryan is a producer for All Things Considered.
Juana Summers
Juana Summers is a host of NPR's All Things Considered.
Mallory Yu
Mallory Yu is an associate producer for All Things Considered.
Thanks to you, WUSF is here — delivering fact-based news and stories that reflect our community.⁠ Your support powers everything we do.
Donate Now