A trade commission in the US is being asked to investigate AI companies for allegedly destroying rare books. Some consumer groups claim that AI companies are digitizing old books to train their large language models (LLMs). The process includes breaking the spines of the rare books, scanning the pages, and then destroying them. Some books may be among the last surviving copies of the original texts. Critics say such books are historically important and that it is unacceptable to burn them. One critic said: "The rarer a book is, the more carefully we should preserve it."

The bulk buying of books is creating a problem for rare book stores. They are getting large orders for valuable books, but are also questioning the ethics of destroying books. The Wall Street Journal reported that sales of rare books have surged. Booksellers are getting unusually large orders for out-of-print, and sometimes valuable books. Some of these books are apparently being bought not to be read, but to be scanned for AI training. The Washington Post reported that AI companies are spending a fortune on millions of books to help train AI assistants.