ISBNdb.com

By the summer, the scale had spilled out of the filings and into the trade.

404 Media found that ISBNDB, a book database used by librarians and dealers, had quietly started brokering bulk purchases for AI labs, anything from a thousand to a million books in order, under a non-disclosure agreement that kept the buyer's name off the invoice.

Dealers in the Netherlands, Germany and Britain reported the same pattern, large orders for unrelated titles chosen by ISBN, with a premium on anything printed before 2022.

The last vintage before the well was contaminated.

Booksellers also say the lack of transparency makes the practice difficult to detect.

In July, a 404 media report drew attention to ISBNDB, a book database that had promoted print book acquisition services for AI datasets while offering to keep buyer information confidential.

ISBNDB later changed the landing page.

Its website now says the company was exploring demand and has chosen to move away from that direction.

A representative told the Epoch Times that ISBNDB had never purchased, scanned, or destroyed a book for AI training or anything else.

But the larger issue remains.

Ben said non-disclosure agreements can be involved when sellers work with big buyers.

And apparently this is – there's something here where it says – As 404 Media reports, this practice has become prevalent enough that even well-established booksellers are looking to cash in on the AI boom.

One called ISBNDB, which boasts the, quote, world's largest book database, extols that the, quote, world's best AI training data is sitting on a shelf, which is where the quote is coming from, upholding these physical texts as uncorrupted by shoddy AI writing that's already polluted so much of the internet.

Oof.

So 404 Media then reported after this that that company or one of them stopped doing this sort of in response to their reporting.

It's not just AI companies taking the heat, however.

ISBN-DB, which dubs itself in quotes, the world's largest book database, was specifically singled out in the 404 story for a since-deleted article on its website.

that appeared to condone the AI book butchering practice, putting them at the center of the firestorm around how AI companies may use and abuse humanity's literary legacy.

Fast forward to this July when the 404 story highlighted the issue while pointing to a post on ISBNDB's website that reportedly touted that, in quotes, the world's best AI training data is sitting on a shelf.

ISBN-DB also reportedly claimed that, also in quotes, it can keep the identity of AI companies secret if they purchase books, and that, once again in quotes, the optics problem is real.

Adding that, once again again in quotes, AI company destroys two million books is not a headline that generates sympathy.

Certainly not.