UK and Ireland booksellers report bulk book orders from mystery buyers

Secondhand booksellers across the UK and Ireland have reported a sudden surge in bulk orders from unidentified buyers, prompting speculation that artificial‑intelligence firms are purchasing large volumes of books to feed their data‑acquisition pipelines. The Guardian’s investigation found that the orders, which come from the United States, Canada, continental Europe and the UK, are being placed by “mystery buyers” whose identities remain undisclosed. Similar spikes in unusual book purchases have been noted by retailers in the United States, Australia and other European markets, indicating a potentially global trend.

The backdrop to this activity is the recent revelation that AI startup Anthropic spent millions of dollars on acquiring and digitising books as part of its training data strategy. Anthropic’s approach, which involved purchasing and scanning thousands of titles, has raised concerns about the scale and ethics of data collection for language‑model training. The bulk orders observed by booksellers may reflect a broader industry effort to secure diverse textual material, though the exact purpose and recipients of these purchases remain unclear.

While the full extent of the data‑collection strategy is still unfolding, the pattern of large, anonymous book orders underscores the growing demand for copyrighted text in AI development. As the industry continues to expand, regulators and publishers are likely to scrutinise the sourcing of training data more closely to ensure compliance with intellectual‑property laws and ethical standards.