A rare-book dealer says that buying and destroying printed books to feed AI training has spread well beyond Anthropic, with tens of millions of volumes cut apart and scanned. He points to independent bookshops receiving bulk orders they cannot easily refuse without damaging their seller ratings, and to scarce titles disappearing from the market. The figures are his own estimates rather than disclosed company data.

• $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement
• up to 2 million books in one contract
• tens of millions destroyed, per bookseller