Are AI companies purchasing physical books to train their models? In this episode, I share my Digital Download interview on Dublin City FM’s Good Morning Dublin, where we dig into the mysterious 5,000-book order received by Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway and what it reveals about AI’s growing hunger for original data.
The Kenny’s Bookshop Story That Got Everyone Talking
So here’s the headline that caught my eye: a Galway bookseller suspects a bulk order is for AI training. Kenny’s Bookshop — a decades-old, family-run gem in Galway — received an order for 5,000 books. Now, if you’re a bookshop owner, that sounds amazing, right? But Tom Kenny was suspicious, and honestly, for good reason.
The books ordered weren’t bestsellers or sought-after titles. They were obsolete, out-of-date publications — things like old driving manuals and guides to the SSIA (remember that Irish government savings scheme?). Nobody called to negotiate a bulk discount. Nobody even identified the purchasing company. That’s not how normal book buyers behave.
We Know This Is Happening — It’s Not Just a Theory
This isn’t speculation. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, ran what they called Project Panama — a programme of buying thousands of books to digitise them. This came to light during a US court case called Varz vs. Anthropic. And here’s the part that really bothers me: under copyright law, if you buy a physical book and digitise it, you must destroy the original. So these books are being shredded after scanning. That’s what’s making people deeply uncomfortable.
Why Are AI Companies Doing This?
Simply put — they’re running out of internet. The large language models have already consumed most of what’s publicly available online, and now they need new, original sources of knowledge. Physical books, especially older and niche titles, represent untapped training data.
Other strategies AI companies are reportedly using include:
- Acquiring telecommunications and data-rich companies for their intellectual property
- Scanning content from radio stations, which produce hours of original audio daily
- Purchasing entire catalogues of creative works
I actually learned at Harvard last summer that companies producing original content are going to become incredibly valuable. Think about radio stations producing 12 to 16 hours of original content every day — that content has real, tangible worth now.
What About Copyright and Creator Rights?
This is where it gets really complicated. A US judge recently ruled in a major case involving Meta that AI training on books constituted “fair use” — essentially for the greater good of technological progress. That ruling was a gut punch for authors and creators.
I recently interviewed an MEP on my podcast who is actively pushing for EU legislation that would require AI companies to provide a material financial kickback to original authors when their work is used for training. But as we always say — technology moves faster than regulation. By the time any EU law passes, we could see thousands more bookshops receiving these mystery bulk orders.
A Bigger Shift Is Underway
What the Kenny’s story really signals is that AI is no longer confined to the internet. It’s reaching into the physical world economy — books, art, music, code — to feed itself. And with the rise of AI-generated books already flooding Amazon, the line between human creativity and machine output is getting harder to see.
It makes me sad, honestly. The beauty of a book, of original creative work, being reduced to a data commodity is hard to sit with. But the business brain in me also knows — if you’re creating original content, your value just went up significantly.
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Key Statistics
– Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway received a single order for 5,000 books, suspected to be for AI training purposes.
– Anthropic’s Project Panama involved buying thousands of books to digitise for model training, revealed in the Varz vs. Anthropic US court case.
– Under copyright law, a physical book must be destroyed after digitisation to retain rights to the digital copy.
– Radio stations can produce 10 to 16 hours of original content per day, making them highly valuable data sources for AI.
About the Podcast Host
AI and Communications Specialist | Author | Podcaster | International Speaker
Joanne Sweeney is a recognised leader in digital marketing and digital transformation, specialising in the practical application of AI to enhance communication strategies. The founder of Digital Training Institute, Joanne, empowers leaders and communications professionals to leverage AI responsibly and effectively, ensuring transparency, trust, and tangible results.
She completed the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Programme in AI and Public Policy this summer before launching her fourth book AI Playbook, in September. Joanne has also published two editions of Public Sector Marketing Pro, which were preceded by her first title, Social Media Under Investigation Law Enforcement and the Social Web.
Her books have become go-to resources for governments, public sector and policing agencies, as well as marketing and communications professionals, all navigating the challenges of the changing Internet.
Joanne is the host of the AI SIX Podcast, a daily six-minute podcast that provides actionable insights, expert interviews, and practical advice to help professionals navigate the new world of work.
